Much of the debate on the economics of drug legalization focuses on the shape of the illicit drug demand curve and the sensitivity of users to changes in the price of illicit drugs. [36] Proponents of drug legalization often assume that the amount of addictive substances consumed does not respond to price changes; However, studies on addictive but legal substances such as alcohol and cigarettes have shown that consumption can certainly respond to price changes. [37] In the same study, economists Michael Grossman and Frank J. Chaloupka estimated that a 10% reduction in the price of cocaine would lead to a 14% increase in the frequency of cocaine use. [37]: 459 This increase indicates that users are reacting to price changes in the cocaine market. There is also evidence that consumers respond much better to price changes in the long term than in the short term,[37]: 454, but other studies have led to a wide range of conclusions. [38] : In 2043, I was told many times in the North that just thinking about substance abuse in terms of health and disease was too simplistic. Some people are able to use drugs for years without significantly disrupting their personal or professional relationships. It only became a problem, they told me, when it became a problem.

The medical use of prescription cannabis has been legal and regulated since April 1, 2013. [58] [59] In 1998, Goulão was a member of the panel recommending a change in the country`s approach. “We realized we were wasting resources,” he told Fonseca. “It made a lot more sense for us to treat addicts as patients who needed help, not criminals.” Police could focus on traffickers and traffickers, freeing up resources for the government to invest in treatment and harm reduction practices. A 2015 study found that the per capita social cost of drug abuse has decreased by 18% since Portugal adopted the new national strategy in 1999 that led to decriminalization. And according to a report by the Drug Policy Alliance, a New York-based nonprofit whose goal is to end America`s “war on drugs,” the percentage of people imprisoned in Portugal for violating drug law has dropped dramatically, from 44 percent in 1999 to 24 percent in 2013. João is an activist for the legalization of marijuana, open about being HIV-positive, and after being absent for part of his son`s youth, he enjoys his new role as a grandfather. He had stopped speedballs (mixtures of cocaine and opiates) after several painful and unsuccessful treatment attempts, each of which was more destructive than the previous one. He has long used cannabis as a form of therapy — methadone didn`t work for him, or any of the inpatient 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 bought marijuana from his regular dealer and was told, “I don`t have that right now, but I have good cocaine.” João thanked him and left, but soon found himself on his way to an ATM and then 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. “The customers didn`t pay, and the creditors started knocking on my door,” he told me. “In six months, I had burned everything I had built in four or five years.” On 1 January 1999, an amendment to the Criminal Code entered into force, which was necessary to bring Czech drug legislation into line with the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and criminalized the possession of “larger than small quantities” also for personal use (art. 187a of the Criminal Code), while possession of small quantities for personal use has become an offence. [51] In the late 2000s and early 2010s, advocacy for the legalization of drugs in Latin America multiplied. At the forefront of the movement, the Uruguayan government announced plans in 2012 to legalize the sale of state-controlled marijuana to combat drug-related offenses. Some countries in this region have already made progress towards decriminalising personal consumption. Given that the use or consumption and/or possession of drugs for personal use is a criminal offence in at least 67 countries, it is time for countries to take bold steps towards decriminalization. After the 2018 midterm elections, Michigan legalized the private use of recreational marijuana.

[116] In 2001, Portugal became the first European country to abolish all criminal sanctions for personal possession of drugs under Law 30/2000. [74] In addition, drug addicts should receive treatment instead of being imprisoned. A study commissioned by the Cato Institute and led by Glenn Greenwald found that in the five years following decriminalization, teen use of illegal drugs had decreased, the rate of HIV infection among drug users had decreased, deaths related to heroin and similar drugs had been reduced by more than half, and the number of people who have been treated for substance abuse. [75] However, Peter Reuter, professor of criminology and public policy at the University of Maryland, College Park, suggests that rates of heroin use and related deaths may be due to the cyclical nature of drug epidemics, but acknowledged that “decriminalization in Portugal has achieved its central goal. Drug use has not increased. [22] Cannabis cultivation is currently legal in Canada, with exceptions only for Manitoba and Quebec. Citizens can grow up to 4 plants per residence for personal use. Recreational use of cannabis by the general public is legal with restrictions on smoking in public places that vary by jurisdiction. The sale of marijuana seeds is also legal.

[102] Today, global drug policy reform organizations focus on promoting harm reduction in the Western world and preventing catastrophic loss of life in developing countries, where much of the world`s supply of heroin, cocaine, and marijuana is produced. Proponents of drug policy reform point to the failure of efforts such as Mexico`s war on drugs, which some observers say has claimed the lives of up to 80,000 people[29], as a sign that a new approach to drug policy is needed. While there is still debate about the policy and how easily it could be applied to other countries, it is clear that local health workers in Portugal feel better equipped to help addicts. Fonseca was surprised and moved by her commitment to people who “have been largely forgotten by the rest of society.” This is despite austerity measures introduced two years after the Portuguese financial crisis in 2010, when the government merged the 1,700 employees of its autonomous drug agency with its national health service. Although Fonseca says the centers still lack adequate funding, two state-sponsored outreach teams – made up of psychologists, social workers and nurses – continue to travel every day to find addicts and give them the treatment they need. “The teams would go to the most dangerous parts of Lisbon and build real relationships,” he said. In 2017, Fonseca spent three months in one of Lisbon`s drug awareness teams; He was interested in seeing – and photographing – the kind of help people receive in Portugal now that drug use is not a political priority. “America and Portugal are very different countries,” Fonseca says, pointing out that what worked in his home country might not be transferred to the United States. But at the same time, he says, there are lessons to be learned from the approach of treating addiction as a medical problem rather than a criminal problem.