Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs?

Collarspace Discussion Forums

Home Login Search

Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs?

View related threads: (in this forum | in all forums)

Logged in as: Guest

All Forums >> [Community Discussions] >> Dungeon of Political and Religious Discussion >> Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs?

Page: [1] 2 3 next > >>

Login

Message

<< Older Topic Newer Topic >>

Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 1:52:00 AM

tazzygirl

Posts: 37833
Joined: 10/12/2007
Status: offline

LISBON, Portugal -- These days, Casal Ventoso is an ordinary blue-collar community - mothers push baby strollers, men smoke outside cafes, buses chug up and down the cobbled main street.

Ten years ago, the Lisbon neighborhood was a hellhole, a "drug supermarket" where some 5,000 users lined up every day to buy heroin and sneaked into a hillside honeycomb of derelict housing to shoot up. In dark, stinking corners, addicts - some with maggots squirming under track marks - staggered between the occasional corpse, scavenging used, bloody needles.

At that time, Portugal, like the junkies of Casal Ventoso, had hit rock bottom: An estimated 100,000 people - an astonishing 1 percent of the population - were addicted to illegal drugs. So, like anyone with little to lose, the Portuguese took a risky leap: They decriminalized the use of all drugs in a groundbreaking law in 2000.

Now, the United States, which has waged a 40-year, $1 trillion war on drugs, is looking for answers in tiny Portugal, which is reaping the benefits of what once looked like a dangerous gamble. White House drug czar Gil Kerlikowske visited Portugal in September to learn about its drug reforms, and other countries - including Norway, Denmark, Australia and Peru - have taken interest, too.

Drugs in Portugal are still illegal. But here's what Portugal did: It changed the law so that users are sent to counseling and sometimes treatment instead of criminal courts and prison. The switch from drugs as a criminal issue to a public health one was aimed at preventing users from going underground.

Other European countries treat drugs as a public health problem, too, but Portugal stands out as the only one that has written that approach into law. The result: More people tried drugs, but fewer ended up addicted.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/26/AR2010122600610.html

Could this work here? What about the costs of such a program?

_____________________________

Telling me to take Midol wont help your butthurt.
RIP, my demon-child 5-16-11
Duchess of Dissent 1
Dont judge me because I sin differently than you.
If you want it sugar coated, dont ask me what i think! It would violate TOS.

Post #: 1

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 2:59:04 AM

DMFParadox

Posts: 1405
Joined: 9/11/2007
Status: offline

I... I don't know. But that's a damn good question. This requires some research.

_____________________________

bloody hell, get me some aspirin and a whiskey straight

"The role of gender in society is the most complicated thing I’ve ever spent a lot of time learning about, and I’ve spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics." - Randall Munroe

(in reply to tazzygirl)

Post #: 2

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 3:15:14 AM

SexyBossyBBW

Posts: 1693
Joined: 2/25/2010
Status: offline

That would be a wonderful idea; treating addicted people for the problem, rather than making them "criminals."
My guess is, the reason we don't, is that it's a lucrative business, with privatized prisons and all. M

_____________________________

"..touching was and still is and always will be the True Revolution" Nikki Giovanni
"Only when there are many people who are pools of peace, silence, understanding, will war disappear." -Osho

(in reply to tazzygirl)

Post #: 3

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 3:42:15 AM

DeuzaDominadora

Posts: 1
Joined: 6/26/2010
Status: offline

I lived in MA for about 12 years and now live in Lisbon; I know what people do to get drugs and how to get it... The use or marijuana in Boston for exemple, is nothing compared to what they do here in Lisbon... 9 1/2 out of 10 people smoke cigarrets, but they buy this rolling thing and mix it with a very poor quality marijuana and smoke it. For the society is ok, is normal after all it's only a inoscent "cigarret but is NOT!!! I don't use it, never have but l ask people about these things and that is what they said. As far as a "model" agains drugs, Portugal is far from be that model!!! They have no borders, so drugs get here from all over Europe, specially Spain!! And the reason why Portugal probably doesnt have more adicts might be the age factor... 80% of the population is over 60 years old! The US is the best regarding methods agains drugs and crime; They also have the best cops doing great jobs. But reality is: War against drugs should start at home. Parents shouldnt beat the kids up when they find cigarrets or drugs, but talk and be the model instead. People who are productive, with high self-estime, with strong family values most of the time wont do drugs. That is the truth. Pinch, pinch and Happy-spanky-New-Year PS:Yeah, yeah my English sucks but the message is what it counts :P

(in reply to SexyBossyBBW)

Post #: 4

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 4:43:13 AM

DMFParadox

Posts: 1405
Joined: 9/11/2007
Status: offline

Boston, for all that it produces a lot of politics and has a famous university or two, is not known as much of a center for drug use.There's a lot more America than that. Though if they were smart, they'd all want to move to New England. ...after the worst of the snow season's done.

_____________________________

bloody hell, get me some aspirin and a whiskey straight

"The role of gender in society is the most complicated thing I’ve ever spent a lot of time learning about, and I’ve spent a lot of time learning about quantum mechanics." - Randall Munroe

(in reply to DeuzaDominadora)

Post #: 5

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 4:53:14 AM

KenDckey

Posts: 4121
Joined: 5/31/2006
Status: offline

I think we should declare San Francisco the drug capital and send all the druggies there for counseling. Might work.

(in reply to DMFParadox)

Post #: 6

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 4:54:15 AM

Moonhead

Posts: 16520
Joined: 9/21/2009
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: SexyBossyBBW

That would be a wonderful idea; treating addicted people for the problem, rather than making them "criminals."
My guess is, the reason we don't, is that it's a lucrative business, with privatized prisons and all. M

Just imagine the tax revenues if you could go further than decriminalisation and legalise the stuff as well. A lot of the cash that's going to utter shits in South America and Asia would go into the public kitty instead, and the rest would be going into the economy rather than out of your country...

_____________________________

I like to think he was eaten by rats, in the dark, during a fog. It's what he would have wanted...
(Simon R Green on the late James Herbert)

(in reply to SexyBossyBBW)

Post #: 7

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 4:55:31 AM

Moonhead

Posts: 16520
Joined: 9/21/2009
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: KenDckey

I think we should declare San Francisco the drug capital and send all the druggies there for counseling. Might work.

Didn't you try that back in '67 and '68? I don't think it worked very well from most accounts...

_____________________________

I like to think he was eaten by rats, in the dark, during a fog. It's what he would have wanted...
(Simon R Green on the late James Herbert)

(in reply to KenDckey)

Post #: 8

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 4:56:38 AM

KenDckey

Posts: 4121
Joined: 5/31/2006
Status: offline

I don't know I was in Africa from 67 to 69 We didn't get radio, tv and rarely got a newspaper in english

(in reply to Moonhead)

Post #: 9

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 5:00:30 AM

Moonhead

Posts: 16520
Joined: 9/21/2009
Status: offline

No worries, Ken. That was just a joke about the late '60s hippy infestation of San Francisco. Not a very good one though, it seems.

_____________________________

I like to think he was eaten by rats, in the dark, during a fog. It's what he would have wanted...
(Simon R Green on the late James Herbert)

(in reply to KenDckey)

Post #: 10

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 5:03:39 AM

tweakabelle

Posts: 7522
Joined: 10/16/2007
From: Sydney Australia
Status: offline

This links to an article by Fernando Henrique Cardoso, a former president of Brazil (1995-2002), co-chairman of the Latin American Commission on Drugs and Democracy, and convener of the Global Commission on Drug Policy.

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/ending-the-futile-war-on-drugs-20101226-197v8.html

I hope people find it informative and helpful.

A reader's poll accompanied the article's publication in the Sydney Morning Herald. Of the 1540 respondents, 93% agreed that "the War on Drugs has failed".

_____________________________

(in reply to DMFParadox)

Post #: 11

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 5:07:55 AM

Moonhead

Posts: 16520
Joined: 9/21/2009
Status: offline

I think more or less everybody agrees that the war on drugs has failed, except for those whose jobs depend on scaremongering about the terrible threat drugs pose to society.

_____________________________

I like to think he was eaten by rats, in the dark, during a fog. It's what he would have wanted...
(Simon R Green on the late James Herbert)

(in reply to tweakabelle)

Post #: 12

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 5:12:23 AM

KenDckey

Posts: 4121
Joined: 5/31/2006
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: Moonhead

No worries, Ken. That was just a joke about the late '60s hippy infestation of San Francisco. Not a very good one though, it seems.

I didn't get it but that is ok. I appreciate the thought I never took illegal drugs. Never tried pot. The way I looked at it was that if someone was impared (including alcohol) I didn't have much use for them. They couldn't help launch bullets at our enemies without hitting me (high probability never actually did) and had trouble hitting them. lol

(in reply to Moonhead)

Post #: 13

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 5:23:13 AM

DarkSteven

Posts: 28072
Joined: 5/2/2008
Status: offline

Bad article. It didn't address a couple of major points:

1. What happened to the drug dealers? The article simply mentioned treatment of the users, not whether the police still went after the dealers.
2. Portugal's economy sucks and it's due for some serious austerity measures. I expect that all the drug treatment mentioned here will end up on the chopping block. Anyone ask what will happen to Casal Ventoso and Portugal when the treatment gets cut back?

_____________________________

"You women....

The small-breasted ones want larger breasts. The large-breasted ones want smaller ones. The straight-haired ones curl their hair, and the curly-haired ones straighten theirs...

Quit fretting. We men love you."

(in reply to Moonhead)

Post #: 14

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 6:43:30 AM

TheHeretic

Posts: 19100
Joined: 3/25/2007
From: California, USA
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: tazzygirl
Could this work here? What about the costs of such a program?

It would have to work better, and cost less, than the failed policies we have been following here for the last 40 years, Tazzy.

_____________________________

If you lose one sense, your other senses are enhanced.
That's why people with no sense of humor have such an inflated sense of self-importance.

(in reply to tazzygirl)

Post #: 15

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 7:19:15 AM

flcouple2009

Posts: 2784
Joined: 1/8/2009
Status: offline

quote:

ORIGINAL: TheHeretic
It would have to work better, and cost less, than the failed policies we have been following here for the last 40 years, Tazzy.

So if it worked but cost more that wouldn't be OK? It would be better to keep pissing money down a failed hole?

(in reply to TheHeretic)

Post #: 16

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 7:38:55 AM

Moonhead

Posts: 16520
Joined: 9/21/2009
Status: offline

Of course it wouldn't, you Liberal!

_____________________________

I like to think he was eaten by rats, in the dark, during a fog. It's what he would have wanted...
(Simon R Green on the late James Herbert)

(in reply to flcouple2009)

Post #: 17

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 7:40:12 AM

Nosathro

Posts: 3319
Joined: 9/25/2005
From: Orange County, California
Status: offline

Actually this approach is not new. In the 1960s England did the same thing with Heroin, they also stopped using the death penalty. After 40 years, the crime rate went up, not down, you have armed criminals gunning down unarmed police, swelling welfare rolls, etc.

_____________________________

"The love of a slave girl is the deepest and most profound love that any woman can give a man. Love makes a woman a man's slave, and the wholeness of that love requires that she be, in truth, his slave." Magicians of Gor, page 31

(in reply to flcouple2009)

Post #: 18

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 7:46:51 AM

Moonhead

Posts: 16520
Joined: 9/21/2009
Status: offline

In fact, heroin has never been decriminalised in England (or, indeed, in Scotland, Northern Ireland or Wales). It's possible to have a few methadone programmes while the stuff's still illegal, hard as this may be for you to comprehend.

_____________________________

I like to think he was eaten by rats, in the dark, during a fog. It's what he would have wanted...
(Simon R Green on the late James Herbert)

(in reply to Nosathro)

Post #: 19

RE: Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs? - 12/29/2010 8:44:57 AM

tazzygirl

Posts: 37833
Joined: 10/12/2007
Status: offline

Drugs have not been decriminalized in Portugal either. What changed was instead of tossing users into jail, they tossed them into treatment programs.

_____________________________

Telling me to take Midol wont help your butthurt.
RIP, my demon-child 5-16-11
Duchess of Dissent 1
Dont judge me because I sin differently than you.
If you want it sugar coated, dont ask me what i think! It would violate TOS.

(in reply to Moonhead)

Post #: 20

Page: [1] 2 3 next > >>

All Forums >> [Community Discussions] >> Dungeon of Political and Religious Discussion >> Portugal, the answer to the war on drugs?

Page: [1] 2 3 next > >>

Jump to:

New Messages	No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages	Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages	Locked w/o New Messages

Post New Thread

Reply to Message

Post New Poll

Submit Vote

Delete My Own Post

Delete My Own Thread

Rate Posts

Collarchat.com © 2025

Terms of Service

0.094