Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
washingtonpost.com
Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
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Re: Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
#2Re: Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
#3[deleted]
Re: Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
#4I love it, the entire argument of this article boils down to, "A problem with visibility" rather than any failure of the policy. As though an existing problem being visible isn't societal pressure to better address the problem. Oh they also present statistics contained to the 2019-2023 period as though that wasn't pandemic-driven.
Re: Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
#5I love it, the entire argument of this article boils down to, "A problem with visibility" rather than any failure of the policy. As though an existing problem being visible isn't societal pressure to better address the problem. Oh they also present statistics contained to the 2019-2023 period as though that wasn't pandemic-driven.
That's what I came away with... so they don't have enough resources for treatment... And the police hands are tied? I'm pretty sure they can still arrest people who commit crimes, just not for using drugs.
Also, why was it working for a few years and now it's not anymore? Could it be that the pandemic and economic downturn caused more people to turn to drugs and reduced funding? Ah, they hid that answer in the last paragraph...
> After years of economic crisis, Portugal decentralized its drug oversight operation in 2012. A funding drop from 76 million euros ($82.7 million) to 16 million euros ($17.4 million) forced Portugal’s main institution to outsource work previously done by the state to nonprofit groups, including the street teams that engage with people who use drugs. The country is now moving to create a new institute aimed at reinvigorating its drug prevention programs.
Re: Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
#6Loads of proposals, all missing the obvious: solve poverty. Portugal and south Europe in general suffer greatly from it. Stats make the region look good on paper but reality is very different.
Re: Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
#7Talk about burying the lede, 11 years ago they privatized their drug oversight operation and cut funding by over 80%. Gee, I wonder if that could have an impact?
> After years of economic crisis, Portugal decentralized its drug oversight operation in 2012. A funding drop from 76 million euros ($82.7 million) to 16 million euros ($17.4 million) forced Portugal’s main institution to outsource work previously done by the state to nonprofit groups, including the street teams that engage with people who use drugs.
Re: Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
#8Talk about burying the lede, 11 years ago they privatized their drug oversight operation and cut funding by over 80%. Gee, I wonder if that could have an impact? > After years of economic crisis, Portugal decentralized its drug oversight operation in 2012. A funding drop from 76 million euros ($82.7 million) to 16 million euros ($17.4 million) forced Portugal’s main institution to outsource work previously done by th…
That sounds like SF's outsourcing to nonprofits.
Re: Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
#9Loads of proposals, all missing the obvious: solve poverty. Portugal and south Europe in general suffer greatly from it. Stats make the region look good on paper but reality is very different.
> solve poverty
How?
Re: Once hailed for decriminalizing drugs, Portugal is now having doubts
#10Talk about burying the lede, 11 years ago they privatized their drug oversight operation and cut funding by over 80%. Gee, I wonder if that could have an impact? > After years of economic crisis, Portugal decentralized its drug oversight operation in 2012. A funding drop from 76 million euros ($82.7 million) to 16 million euros ($17.4 million) forced Portugal’s main institution to outsource work previously done by th…
Indeed. They slashed funding to successful parts of the strategy and now claim the strategy failed. A convenient narrative for politicians, but hardly truth.