Portugal decrim "bizzarrely underappreciated"

[DdC]

You Can't Tell Us Drug Legalization Is Impossible
Writing in The American Interest, esteemed political scientist Francis Fukuyama called on the United States to do more to help Mexico in its battle with the drug trade -- namely by boosting security on both sides of the border and assisting reform of the Mexican justice system. So far, so routine. But then Fukuyama made an interesting observation.full story



Portugal decriminalization success gets some play
pete@drugwarrant.com Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Glenn Greenwald's excellent report (on the successful decriminalization of all drugs in Portugal for personal use) was picked up by Scientific American: Portugal's Drug Decriminalization Policy Shows Positive Results

What really caught my attention in this article was that they got the UNODC to agree that it seemed to work, but the response was Kafkaesque.

Walter Kemp, a spokesperson for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, says decriminalization in Portugal "appears to be working." He adds that his office is putting more emphasis on improving health outcomes, such as reducing needle-borne infections, but that it does not explicitly support decriminalization, "because it smacks of legalization."

Yes, decrim works, but we don't support something that actually works because it sounds like something we're afraid want to talk about. Right.

A spokesperson for the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy declined to comment, citing the pending Senate confirmation of the office's new director, former Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs also declined to comment on the report.

Well, I guess no policy is better than what we're used to.



Decrim in Portugal
pete@drugwarrant.com Thursday, April 2, 2009

Reminder: Glenn Greenwald will be at the Cato Institute tomorrow (Friday) at noon Eastern to talk about his paper: Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies. Peter Reuter will be responding, and Tim Lynch, moderating.

If you can't get to the Cato Institute, you can watch the event live here.

The paper itself is now available to read online at Cato or you can download the pdf. It's a fascinating paper. continued@drugwarrant



Decriminalizing Drugs In Portugal

Does Decriminalization Lead to Chaos? Not in Portugal.

DEATHS DROPPED AFTER PORTUGAL DECRIMINALIZED DRUG USE

Portuguese drug decriminalization has positive effects, study finds

Portugal Decriminalizes Drug Use and Possession, Prescription Heroin and Injection Rooms Coming Next?7/14/00
The Portuguese parliament voted on July 6 to decriminalize the use and possession of illegal drugs. The measure, which includes both "soft" drugs such as marijuana and "hard" drugs such as heroin and cocaine, keeps criminal penalties for production and trafficking in illegal drugs.

Drug use in Portugal plunges after decriminalization

Portugal’s Quiet Victory

"The idea is to get away from punishment and move toward treatment,"
~ Ministry of the Presidency
drug policy spokesman/Reuters.



U.S. Headed Down Lonely Road In Its Drug Crusade

Yeah, the Free Mexican Air Force is flyin' tonight

"We have spent over a trillion dollars trying to eradicate the world's most beneficial plant off the face of the earth. Imagine what a better world this would be if that money had been spent on treatment, education and studying the medical benefits of marijuana."
-- Steve Hager - High Times Editor (1988 - 2003)

Transform Cost-Effectiveness Study Slams Prohibition, UK Government

The inestimable Transform Drug Policy Foundation has done it again.

Their newest report is A Comparison of the Cost-effectiveness of the Prohibition and Regulation of Drugs (pdf), which is that, plus a kick in the pants. continued @ drugwarrant

"This is stuff that my Granddaddy used to grow by the thousands of acres, and now we have helicopters up there trying to spot these crops so they can burn them down. That ladies and gentlemen is a police state,"
~ Gatewood Galbraith Visits Eastern

The Elkhorn Manifesto