Portugal drug decriminalization a success

Portugal decriminalized possession of all drugs in 2001. The outcome, after nearly a decade, according to a study published in the November issue of the British Journal of Criminology: less teen drug use, fewer HIV infections, fewer AIDS cases and more drugs seized by law enforcement. Adult drug use rates did slightly increase -- but this increase was not greater than that seen in nearby countries that did not change their drug policies. The use of drugs by injection declined.

Of course, there's no way of knowing which, if any, of these changes were caused by the change in policy -- without a control group, this kind of research cannot determine cause and and effect. But Portugal started with one of the lowest rates of drug use in Europe -- far lower than American rates -- and remains below the EU average. For example, 19% of 15-to-16-year-olds in Europe in general have tried marijuana at least once, compared with 13% of Portuguese people that age. The figure for U.S. high school sophomores is 32%.

"The most important direct effect was a reduction in the use of criminal justice resources targeted at vulnerable drug users," says Alex Stevens, professor of criminal justice at the U.K.'s University of Kent, who co-authored the study. "Before, a large number of people were being arrested and punished for drug use alone. They saved themselves a lot of money and stopped inflicting so much harm on people through the criminal justice system. There were other trends since drugs were decriminalized in 2001, but they are less easy to attribute directly to decriminalization."