In the early days of the Portuguese panic, when the beloved Olhão de Pereira began to collapse before his eyes, the first instinct of the state was to attack. Drugs were denounced as bad, addicts were demonized, and proximity to the two was criminally and mentally punishable. The Portuguese government launched a series of national anti-drug campaigns that were less “Just Say No” and more “Drugs Are Satan”. European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). Portugal – National Drug Report 2019. Lisbon: EMCDDA; 2019. wwwemcddaeuropaeu/system/files/publications/11331/portugal-cdr-2019_0.pdf Retrieved 3 March 2021. Soares M, Carvalho M, Valbom M, Rodrigues T. Addressing harm reduction, human rights and drug uses on recreational environments: tensions, potentialities and learnings from the Kosmicare project (Portugal). Pastor Crít Ciênc Sociais.
2017;112(112):3–24. doi.org/10.4000/rccs.6535. Portugal`s policy is based on three pillars: firstly, there are no soft or hard drugs, but only healthy and unhealthy relations with drugs; second, a person`s unhealthy relationship with drugs often hides frayed relationships with loved ones, the world around them and themselves; and thirdly, that the eradication of all drugs is an impossible goal. In Portugal, health care for drug addicts is mainly organized through the public networks for the treatment of illicit substance abuse, which are part of the Institute for Drugs and Drug Addiction and the Ministry of Health. In addition to public services, certifications and protocols between NGOs and other public or private treatment services ensure broad access to quality-controlled services covering multiple treatment modalities. Public services are free and accessible to all drug users seeking treatment. Under the influence of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) — known for introducing a coordinated international fight against the drug phenomenon — Portuguese Legislative Decree No. 420/70 (3 September 1970) criminalized drug use and regulated the suppression of drug trafficking, but surprisingly – the latter moderately. At that time, the law emphasized the immorality of drugs and the absence of criminal liability of the user, based exclusively on a public safety perspective at the expense of health, which was not in accordance with this Convention. Shortly thereafter, Decree-Law No 792/76 (3.
December 1976) reflected a slight progress: drug use was understood as a complex medical-psychological problem; and led to the creation of the Centre for Drug Research and Prophylaxis (Figure 1). Even if a large part of the “small” trade serves to maintain drug use, it turns out that the legislator – in order to punish the agent as a dealer-consumer – requires him to use the behaviors referred to in Article 21 ° exclusively for personal use, which immediately excludes the sanction of the agent as such [35, 54]. How did Portugal come to see drug addiction in this way when so many other countries have not? First, his crisis escalated extremely quickly. After four decades of authoritarian rule, during which it was impossible to buy even a Coca Cola, Portugal opened up to the world in 1974, welcoming freedom and new markets perhaps a little too enthusiastic. Soldiers returned to Portugal from the former colonies with a variety of drugs, just as borders were opening to travel and trade. From the late 70s, heroin from India and Pakistan was smuggled through the former colony of Mozambique and then ended up on the streets of Portugal. So many years of isolation have ill-equipped the country to combat the flow of drugs, and there was a lack of sufficient knowledge about the social and health risks of various drugs. The culture of liberation quickly fell into crisis. If a person is found with a small amount of a narcotic (defined as 10 days for personal use), the drug is confiscated and the person is summoned to a panel called Comissões para a Dissuasão da Toxicodependência (Commission for the Deterrence of Drug Addiction). In the morning, I followed the street crews from the center to the outskirts of Lisbon. I met Raquel and Sareia – their slender figures swimming in the large safety vests they wear over their diapers – who were working with Crescer na Maior, a harm reduction NGO. Six times a week, they loaded a large white van with drinking water, wet wipes, gloves, boxes of aluminum foil, and stacks of government-issued medicines: green plastic bags containing disposable portions of filtered water, citric acid, a small metal cooking bowl, gauze, filters, and a clean syringe.
Portugal doesn`t have supervised injection sites yet (although there is legislation that allows them, several attempts to open one have failed), so, Raquel and Sareia told me, they go to the outdoor places where they know people are buying and using. Both are psychologists by training, but on the street, they are simply known as “needlestick girls.” In the North, I have been told many times that thinking of addiction solely in terms of health and illness is too reductive. Some people are able to use drugs for years without seriously disrupting their personal or professional relationships. It only became a problem, they told me, when it became a problem. The monitoring and social reintegration of drug users in Portugal is organized through three major programmes targeting different regions of Portugal (Programa Vida Emprego, Programa Quadro Reinserir and PIDDAC Reintegration Incentives). The three programmes fund various initiatives and projects to support drug users through training, employment and/or housing. Are drugs legal in Portugal? No! If you`re visiting Portugal for a “coffee” experience in Amsterdam, think again. Although all draws are decriminalized in Portugal, this does NOT mean that they are legal. So what`s the difference between legalization and decriminalization? The legalization of drugs would mean that there is no legal prohibition behind narcotics.
Adults could run to your local store and buy them, just like you would buy a pack of cigarettes in Portugal. On the other hand, decriminalisation in Portugal eliminates criminal sanctions against drug use. A person who is in possession of a drug below a certain amount will not be prosecuted. This does not mean that individuals are never arrested for drug-related behaviour. While drug use is decriminalized, drug sales are not. Here, the line between the two sometimes blurs. Let`s talk about the law in the next section. João is an activist for the legalization of marijuana, open to being HIV-positive, and after being away for part of his son`s youth, he loves his new role as a grandfather. He had stopped making speedballs (mixtures of cocaine and opiates) after several painful and unsuccessful treatment attempts, one of which was more destructive than the last. He used cannabis as a form of therapy for a long time – methadone didn`t work for him, nor did the hospital treatment programs he tried – but the cruel hypocrisy of decriminalization meant that while smoking weed wasn`t a crime, buying it was. His last and worst relapse came when he tried to buy marijuana from his regular dealer and was told, “I don`t have that right now, but I have good cocaine.” João said no and left, but soon found himself on his way to an ATM and back to the dealership. After this relapse, he started a new relationship and started his own business.
At one point, it had more than 30 employees. Then came the financial crisis. “Customers didn`t pay and creditors knocked on my door,” he told me.