{"id":1761,"date":"2011-07-14T08:47:46","date_gmt":"2011-07-14T12:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/07\/interview-with-an-architect-of-portugals-successful-drug-decriminalization.html"},"modified":"2011-07-14T08:47:46","modified_gmt":"2011-07-14T12:47:46","slug":"interview-with-an-architect-of-portugals-successful-drug-decriminalization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2011\/07\/interview-with-an-architect-of-portugals-successful-drug-decriminalization.html","title":{"rendered":"Interview with an architect of Portugal’s successful drug decriminalization"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the architects of Portugal’s successful drug decriminalization policy
\nsays,
\n“to make
\ndemands of addicts who are enslaved by their addiction is senseless.”
\nWell, it makes sense to those who profit by it, such as private prison
\ncompanies.
\nAnd Georgia is now proposing
\n
\nto make field slaves<\/a> out of them,
\nfor
\n
\nfailing a drug test.<\/a><\/p>\n

\nIn\u00eas Subtil wrote for communidad segura 11 May 2009,
\n
\nPortugal: Success in harm reduction<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n
\n<\/a>
\nIn 1999, Portugal broke new ground by enacting legislation that
\ndecriminalized all drug use. Ten years later, the results are there
\nfor all to see, results of a change that Jo\u00e3o Goul\u00e3o, president of
\nthe do Instituto da Droga e Toxicodepend\u00eancia (The Drugs and Chemical
\nAddiction Institute) IDT, believes show the law has been instrumental in
\nsolving the problem of drug abuse, and crucial for bringing legislation
\ninto harmony with practices and people.<\/p>\n

\nA family doctor, Goul\u00e3o was condecorated by the president of the
\nPortuguese Republic, but he says he is always ready for to roll up
\nhis sleeves and get out in the field. At 55, he is a candidate for the
\nPresidency of the European Drugs Observatory, but that has not clowded
\nhis sobriety about the work at hand.<\/p>\n

\nIn an exclusive interview to Comunidad Segura, Goul\u00e3o discusses the
\nworkings and the structure of the institution that he presides over, that
\nhas set a world-wide example of success. For him, drug use is closely
\nassociated to self-esteem. \u201cIf we could restore drug addicts their
\nhuman dignity, we would be able to demand something in return. But to make
\ndemands of addicts who are enslaved by their addiction is senseless,\u201d
\nhe said.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now that makes a lot of sense.
\nAnd Portugal demonstrates that it works.<\/p>\n

\nHe has more sensible things to say in the interview, including this:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nWhy decriminalize all drugs, instead of a few?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nThe distinction between light and heavy drugs makes less and less sense,
\nand already from the 90\u2019s it made little sense scientifically. There are
\ndrugs with different levels of danger, but these levels are changing. The
\nplants have undergone genetic alterations, they have been manipulated,
\nand in some cases the content of the active substance has increased by 15
\nto 10 times, as have the psico-g\u00eanic effects that these substances cause.<\/p>\n

\nThat means that the distinction makes little sense. I have seen people who
\nare heavily addicted to so-called light drugs, and people using so-called
\nheavy drugs in reasonably light ways. The issue has more to do with the
\nrelationship each person establishes with the substance than with what the
\nsubstance itself is. That is what led us to decriminalize all substances.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This is why while Washington state ending
\nmarijuana prohibition would be a good start,<\/a>
\nit is only a start on solving the problem of far too many people
\nin the prison system,
\n
\n1 in 13 of the adult population in Georgia.<\/a><\/p>\n

\nWe can’t afford a private prison in Lowndes County, Georgia.
\nSpend those tax dollars on rehabilitation and education.<\/p>\n

\n-jsq<\/p>\n

\nPS: Human security, there’s a concept!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the architects of Portugal’s successful drug decriminalization policy says, “to make demands of addicts who are enslaved by their addiction is senseless.” Well, it makes sense to those who profit by it, such as private prison companies. And Georgia is now proposing to make field slaves out of them, for failing a drug […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[97,1113,48,40,14,15,2,1381,72,178],"tags":[4116,8817,4117,4113,77,4114,4115,8701,727,7,81,2490,2708,75,1297,2489,2712,1898,8749,82,1064],"class_list":["post-1761","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-activism","category-cca","category-code-enforcement","category-community","category-economy","category-education","category-government","category-immigration","category-incarceration","category-vlcia","tag-addiction","tag-cca","tag-chain-gang","tag-decriminalization","tag-drugs","tag-enslaved","tag-field-slave","tag-georgia","tag-jail","tag-lowndes-county","tag-marijuana","tag-parole","tag-portugal","tag-prison","tag-private-prison","tag-probation","tag-rehabilitation","tag-slave","tag-vlcia","tag-war-on-drugs","tag-washington-state"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1761"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1761\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1761"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1761"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1761"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}