In the year 2000, Portugal had one of the worst drug problems in Europe. One percent of the population was addicted to heroin, which is kind of mind-blowing, and every year, they tried the American way more and more. They punished people and stigmatized them and shamed them more, and every year, the problem got worse. Johann Hari [ted id=2299 lang=pt-br]

Portugal takes the lead in The War on Drugs!

 

The 2 core emements in Portugal’s vsionary drug policy from 2000: 1) Decriminalize all drugs from cannabis to crack & 2) Take all the money used to spend on cutting addicts off on reconnecting them with society. Johann Hari

  Johann Hari’s TED Talk: Everything you think you know about addiction is wrong is based on his book Chasing the Scream from January 2015   [caption id="attachment_968" align="aligncenter" width="420"] John Hari’s Chasing The Scream – click this picture for more info[/caption]  

Nobody in Portugal wants to go back to the old system. 

In only 15 years Portugal has been able to reduce drug injection by 50 percent – five-zero percent!! – reducing drug OD, HIV among addicts and drug related crime significantly.   

How does Portugals liberal drug policy affect tourism?

Except for the pushers that sell marijuanna in all touristic areas the only other drug related ‘things’ travelers witness in Lisbon are the absence off drug addicts and needles in the red light districts – like the new happening tourist areas Lago Independent and Martim Moniz    ]]>