Portugal’s answer to the heroin crisis
Why Philadelphia is looking to Europe for help with America’s worst big-city drug epidemic
The Philadelphia Inquirer (US)
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
After years of mounting overdoses, HIV infections and rampant heroin addiction, Portugal opted in 2001 for a daring experiment: The country decriminalized the use of all drugs. It was an unprecedented move, and one that still garners worldwide attention, including from health-care professionals and government officials looking for answers to their hometown drug crises. Portugal’s policy shift wasn’t instituted without controversy. In a deeply Catholic country of only 10 million — just a generation removed from the yoke of a repressive fascist government — stigma toward drug users runs high. Critics raised fears that the policy would increase addiction and turn the country into a haven for drug users.
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