{"id":6650,"date":"2012-11-26T14:17:34","date_gmt":"2012-11-26T14:17:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/"},"modified":"2022-07-04T14:34:36","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T12:34:36","slug":"portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/","title":{"rendered":"Portugal: Ten Years After Decriminalization"},"content":{"rendered":"

The HCLU’s movie presents drug policies in Portugal ten years after the decriminalization of drug use – watch it and share it with your friends on Facebook!<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In 2001, a small European country, Portugal, took a brave step, changing its drug policies and refocussing its efforts away from arresting and criminalising drug users, towards smart public health interventions. How did the political establishment of a Catholic-Conservative country come to such an agreement about decriminalization? How does the system work? Is it effective? Ten years after decriminalization, the HCLU film crew travelled to Lisbon and Porto to get answers to these questions \u2013 and now you can learn them from our latest movie, produced in cooperation with \u00a0APDES<\/a>\u00a0– an NGO partner in our European Drug Policy Initiative<\/a>.\u00a0The film tells the story of decriminalization from various perspectives, through the eyes of people involved in its formation, implementation and evaluation.<\/p>\n

<\/object>
\nYou can turn on English subtitles by starting the movie and clicking on the “cc” button at the bottom of the window!<\/strong><\/p>\n

We recommend you to read the report of the Open Society Foundation on the same issue, please click on the picture below:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Contrary to the expectations of the new law\u2019s critics, drug use did not skyrocket in the years following decriminalization \u2013 actually it stabilized or declined among young people, in accordance with the patterns and trends of other European countries.<\/p>\n

What is even more important, there was a significant reduction in drug-related deaths and disease, not to mention financial and human resource savings for the law enforcement bodies. Prior to decriminalisation, Portugal was a Catholic-Conservative country with a short history of democracy, the prevalence of injecting drug use was very high, as well as the rate of new HIV transmissions.<\/p>\n

The Portuguese experience demonstrates that decriminalisation and harm reduction programs do not only work in rich countries with well-established democracies like Holland. In addition, the Portuguese decriminalisation model did not only abolish penalties against drug users but also created a diversion system: a commission made up of three people, a doctor, a social worker and a lawyer decides if the offender should be sanctioned or not. We can now see that this model serves as an effective social filter of problematic and non-problematic drug use.<\/p>\n

Posted by Peter Sarosi<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The HCLU’s movie presents drug policies in Portugal ten years after the decriminalization of drug use – watch it and share it with your friends on Facebook!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1005,"featured_media":6039,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2900,2894],"tags":[],"countries":[2710],"section":[],"video-author":[2921],"drug":[],"archive":[3212,3223,3214,3219,3222,3229,3230,3226,3227,3228,3240],"video-series":[3234],"class_list":["post-6650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","category-video-database","countries-portugal-en","video-author-drugreporter","archive-criminalisation","archive-drug-consumption-rooms","archive-drug-policy-and-law","archive-european-drug-policy","archive-harm-reduction","archive-hepatitis","archive-hiv-aids","archive-needle-and-syringe-programs","archive-opiate-substitution","archive-overdose-prevention","archive-regulation-and-control","video-series-lessons-for-drug-policy-series"],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/01\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png","author_info":{"display_name":"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi","author_link":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/author\/sarosip-2\/"},"yoast_head":"\nPortugal: Ten Years After Decriminalization - Drugreporter<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Portugal: Ten Years After Decriminalization\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The HCLU’s movie presents drug policies in Portugal ten years after the decriminalization of drug use – watch it and share it with your friends on Facebook!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Drugreporter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-26T14:17:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-04T12:34:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/01\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"642\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"362\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb6cc5151784cb72290e136439b8cfbf\"},\"headline\":\"Portugal: Ten Years After Decriminalization\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-26T14:17:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-04T12:34:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":385,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\",\"Video Database\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/\",\"name\":\"Portugal: Ten Years After Decriminalization - Drugreporter\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-26T14:17:34+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-04T12:34:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb6cc5151784cb72290e136439b8cfbf\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/8\\\/2015\\\/01\\\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png\",\"width\":642,\"height\":362},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Portugal: Ten Years After Decriminalization\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/\",\"name\":\"Drugreporter\",\"description\":\"News and Films from the Frontline of the War on Drugs\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/fb6cc5151784cb72290e136439b8cfbf\",\"name\":\"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b0d99f928865d28655d1d76062ad4e267f8cdb42a281930f70dd9a875b94be0b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b0d99f928865d28655d1d76062ad4e267f8cdb42a281930f70dd9a875b94be0b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b0d99f928865d28655d1d76062ad4e267f8cdb42a281930f70dd9a875b94be0b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi\"},\"description\":\"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi is the Executive Director of the Rights Reporter Foundation. He is a human rights activist and drug policy expert, the founder and editor of the Drugreporter website since 2004, the author of countless articles, co-author of books and director of films about harm reduction and drug policy reform. He was the Director of the Drug Policy Program at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union between 2004 and 2015. He is experienced in working at international drug policy forums such as the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. He was twice elected to the Core Group of the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs. He is the co-chair of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network. He has been representing the Hungarian Harm Reduction Network at the government\u2019s drug advisory body in Hungary since 2007. Peter also contributed to building a network of advocacy NGOs in Europe: the European Drug Policy Initiative. He provided technical assistance to several NGOs, and launched several campaigns on drug policy reform. As a member of the Drugreporter video advocacy team, he has produced videos about drug policy issues in a number of countries. These videos are now part of a unique online drug policy video library.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/drogriporter.hu\\\/en\\\/author\\\/sarosip-2\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Portugal: Ten Years After Decriminalization - Drugreporter","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Portugal: Ten Years After Decriminalization","og_description":"The HCLU’s movie presents drug policies in Portugal ten years after the decriminalization of drug use – watch it and share it with your friends on Facebook!","og_url":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/","og_site_name":"Drugreporter","article_published_time":"2012-11-26T14:17:34+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-07-04T12:34:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":642,"height":362,"url":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/01\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/"},"author":{"name":"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi","@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fb6cc5151784cb72290e136439b8cfbf"},"headline":"Portugal: Ten Years After Decriminalization","datePublished":"2012-11-26T14:17:34+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-04T12:34:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/"},"wordCount":385,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/01\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png","articleSection":["Articles","Video Database"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/","url":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/","name":"Portugal: Ten Years After Decriminalization - Drugreporter","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/01\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png","datePublished":"2012-11-26T14:17:34+00:00","dateModified":"2022-07-04T12:34:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fb6cc5151784cb72290e136439b8cfbf"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/01\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/01\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png","width":642,"height":362},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/portugal-ten-years-after-decriminalization\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Portugal: Ten Years After Decriminalization"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/","name":"Drugreporter","description":"News and Films from the Frontline of the War on Drugs","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/fb6cc5151784cb72290e136439b8cfbf","name":"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0d99f928865d28655d1d76062ad4e267f8cdb42a281930f70dd9a875b94be0b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0d99f928865d28655d1d76062ad4e267f8cdb42a281930f70dd9a875b94be0b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b0d99f928865d28655d1d76062ad4e267f8cdb42a281930f70dd9a875b94be0b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi"},"description":"P\u00e9ter S\u00e1rosi is the Executive Director of the Rights Reporter Foundation. He is a human rights activist and drug policy expert, the founder and editor of the Drugreporter website since 2004, the author of countless articles, co-author of books and director of films about harm reduction and drug policy reform. He was the Director of the Drug Policy Program at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union between 2004 and 2015. He is experienced in working at international drug policy forums such as the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. He was twice elected to the Core Group of the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs. He is the co-chair of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Network. He has been representing the Hungarian Harm Reduction Network at the government\u2019s drug advisory body in Hungary since 2007. Peter also contributed to building a network of advocacy NGOs in Europe: the European Drug Policy Initiative. He provided technical assistance to several NGOs, and launched several campaigns on drug policy reform. As a member of the Drugreporter video advocacy team, he has produced videos about drug policy issues in a number of countries. These videos are now part of a unique online drug policy video library.","url":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/author\/sarosip-2\/"}]}},"featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/01\/screen_shot_2015-01-06_at_18.30.33.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1005"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6650"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6650\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/countries?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"section","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/section?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"video-author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/video-author?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"drug","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/drug?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"archive","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/archive?post=6650"},{"taxonomy":"video-series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drogriporter.hu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/video-series?post=6650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}