History
What was the first country to decriminalize drugs?
Portugal (Hughes and Stevens, 2010).
Decriminalization of drugs is the key to fix all problems with addiction
What is Fiction (Braham, 2018)
Moving away a punishment based model and focusing on accessible treatment and recovery services for those with addictions.
Portugal believed decriminalization of drugs would help eliminate this, in order for people with addictions to feel more comfortable to access treatment.
What is Stigma (Laqueur, 2015).
What is the difference between drug legalization and drug decriminalization?
Drug Legalization = the complete removal of sanctions, making certain drugs legal and applying no criminal or administrative penalty (Hughes and Stevens, 2010).
Drug Decriminalization = the removal of sanctions under the criminal law with optional use of administrative sanctions (Hughes and Stevens, 2010).
The War on Drugs
What is government led initiative to stop illegal drug use, distribution and trade by dramatically increasing prison sentences for both drug dealers and users? (Becker & Murphy, 2013)
Decriminalization of drugs means that drug dealing is legal.
What is fiction (Braham, 2018)
Decriminalization of drugs is this type of recovery model.
What is Harm Reduction? (Bajekal, 2018)
Supervised Consumption Site
What is a location where people can use drugs in a clean environment under the supervision of health professionals trained to provide emergency intervention? (Jesseman & Payer, 2018)
Portugal enlisted a structure in which any person found using, or with drugs within the personal use limit is mandated to appear in front of this
What is the Commissions for Dissuasion of Drug Addiction (CDTs)? (Laquer, 2015).
Rates of drug use decrease when drug users face harsher punishment.
Fiction (Hughes and Stevens, 2010).
What are the secondary health effects of decriminalization of drugs model?
Decreased transmission of HIV and Hepatitis C (Bajekal, 2018)
What is Drug Depenalization?
Drug use and possession are still illegal, but infractions are to be treated in a noncriminal manner rather than going through the justice system (Felix and Portugal, 2017).
In what year did Portugal decriminalize drugs?
2001 (Felix and Portugal, 2010).
Only 3 out of 195 countries in the world have decriminalized drugs.
Fact (Doll, 2019).
Decriminalization of drugs emphasizes looking at addictions not as a crime but as this.
What is a health problem (Bajekal, 2018)
Drug Checking Services
What is to analyze drugs in an effort to mitigate the risk of hazardous contaminants (Jesseman & Payer, 2018)
Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
What is an act passed in 1996 outlining intensified the sanctions for minor drug crimes (Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, 1997)
There was 7 million arrests from the period of 2001 and 2010 in the US for the possession of cannabis
Fiction (Virani & Haines-Saah, 2020)
What has been the primary impact of decriminalizing drugs?
The burden and cost in the criminal justice system (Hughes and Stevens, 2010).
De facto and De jure
De facto approaches are implemented according to non-legislative or informal guidelines. De jure approaches are reflected in formal policy and legislation.