Portuguese Parliament approves decriminalization of synthetic drugs

Portugal has agreed to decriminalize synthetic drugs, reports The Portugal News. Portugal has had the most liberal policy on all drugs in Europe for decades. The drug strategy introduced in 2000 The policy, which went into effect in July 2001, was originally created to reduce the HIV/AIDS incidence of injecting drug use using a harm reduction model. (In 1999, Portugal had the highest rate of HIV among such drug users in the European Union.) Their policies included decriminalizing personal drug possession and influenced similar efforts in places like Oregon. And it has worked, at least in drastically reducing HIV rates. As reported by the Washington Post, HIV transmission rates through injections have fallen sharply.

However, while drugs are decriminalized for those who enjoy them, their policies still provide criminal sanctions for drug trafficking. Basically, you can get into trouble when you deliver something, but not when you use it. Anyone familiar with how drug culture works can understand that while the goal is admirable, this approach is far from perfect when the true goal is protecting public health. People will always find a way to get drugs, whether their suppliers are arrested or not. But what such providers sell is changing.

Synthetic drugs are artificially modified from naturally occurring substances. For example, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. The new law balances the legal handling of these substances with that of “classic drugs” such as cannabis, heroin and cocaine. The debate about synthetic drugs that led to their decriminalization focused on the harmful effects of these new substances on the community. Unfortunately, while Portugal’s laws offered hope of hurting reductionists worldwide, as the Washington Post notes, the country still has drug problems due to newer and deadlier drugs and other factors. Drug use appears to be more visible on the street than ever and interest in substance use disorder support appears to be waning.

“Ultimately, the hands of the police are tied,” said António Leitão da Silva, chief of the Porto Municipal Police, adding that the matter is now similar to the years before decriminalization was introduced in 2000.

“27 years later, it is necessary to change the current legal framework to reflect this new and harsh reality,” said Socialist MP Sara Madruga da Costa, referring to the 2000 law. She added that they plan to introduce a “Faster and more effective response to this complex and alarming phenomenon” which mainly affects Madeira and the Azores regions in Portugal.

Madruga da Costa says the consumer-distributor distinction is “fundamental” to combating the horrors of synthetic drugs by applying her current laws to newer drugs. In addition to decriminalizing synthetic drugs, the text also eliminates the criterion based on the number of doses or amount of drug used to distinguish between users and traffickers (i.e. who can be arrested). However, the goal is still to differentiate one another, so providers cannot relax just yet.

Cláudia Santos, MP for the PS (Portuguese Socialist Party), noted that 23 years ago the “historic decision” was taken to decriminalize the possession of drugs for consumption in Portugal. Despite this legislative period, the number of citizens convicted of consumer offenses increased from 2009 onwards. “With this project we want to reaffirm the chosen option for prevention and treatment of consumers,” said the PS MP, believing that possession of drugs for use “should not be a crime,” reports The Portugal News.

Treatment has always been part of Portugal’s drug policy, and it hopes to be able to provide care more than ever as admissions to psychiatric hospitals due to unhealthy use of synthetic drugs have soared, Business Insider reports. However, their system is far from perfect. Currently, one has to wait years for state-funded rehabilitation treatment.

You should know that while the country gained a reputation for progressive drug policies early on, cannabis remains illegal.