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Portugal’s position in relation to drugs and drug addiction continues to serve as a model not only in Europe but in the rest of the world.
Portugal continues to be an example in the “fight against drugs”.
In the 1990s, Portugal had the highest rate of HIV infections in the European Union and was suffering from a heroin epidemic. 20 years later, the decriminalization policy led to a huge drop in these problems.
Portugal is today an example worldwide. You drug addicts began to be treated with dignity: as sick and not as criminals.
In an interview with Jornal de Notícias, published this Monday, the director of the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OBDT), Alexis Goosdeelpraised the work being done in Portugal.
“I think there is no other serious alternative”, he replied, when asked whether the Portuguese model remains valid.
“The Portuguese model was a example for other European countries“, he continued, warning that “this does not mean that, when designing programs, it is not necessary to change some of the forms of responses, because the new risks are different, the substances are different”.
Emphasizing that the drug use is a social and health problemthe person responsible for the Observatory argued that it is fundamentally important to “support human development, recover our citizens, guaranteeing everyone’s safety”.
Nowadays, Portugal’s progressive and innovative politics are often praised in foreign media – as is an example of this recent publication by The New York Times.
Politicians around the world cite the Portuguese results as arguments in favor of implementing similar proposals, but it doesn’t always go well. Is important know (and) evaluate the context.
Despite this, Alexis Goosdeel admits the creation of a common strategy to combat drug trafficking in the EU: “We will have the ability to make recommendations to the authorities and support the implementation of decisions, whether at national or European level”.
“The EU already has a common strategy and the Agency will help member states anticipate new threats and prepare responses. Let’s have the opportunity to be much more proactive partners“, assured the director of OBDT.
In the same interview, Alexis Goosdeel revealed concerns about drug trafficking, sharing the curious (and worrying) note that its sale is made with “marketing strategies used by Coca-Cola”.
This Monday, Germany became the third EU country to legalize the recreational use and controlled cultivation of cannabis, in a step that divides opinions within that country.
If, on the one hand, the government of Olaf Scholz admits that it is a more effective step towards fight against trafficking of drugs; on the other hand, there are experts who consider the measure “a catastrophe”.
