In July 2001 the Portuguese government implemented a piece of legislation that decriminalised the consumption of illegal drugs such as cannabis and heroin. The sale and trafficking of these drugs remains illegal.
The new laws require the police to report drug takers to special local authority commissions, which ensure that addicts seek treatment. At the time, social conservatives warned of Portugal becoming a top tourist destination for drug users. Yet in 2005 studies showed that drug use had gone down; rates of infection in HIV had decreased; deaths relating to heroin and drug overdose were cut in half; while the number of people seeking treatment for drug abuse had doubled.
Far from the government losing control in the war on drugs, the legislation has actually meant that the government can fight drugs out in the open - not behind closed doors and in back alleys.
So will our government ever take this fresh approach to the problem of drugs? The evidence we have from Portugal shows that a state that relaxes and regulates its drug laws is far more effective in combating the drug problem. The US and Britain have some of strictest drug laws in the western world. Is it surprising that they also have some of the worst rates of abuse?
The drug industry in Britain amounts to billions of pounds. That is a lot of money, and worth reflecting upon. The profit margins for major traffickers of heroin are so high that they compare favourably to Louis Vuitton and Gucci.
The annual UK supply of heroin could be transported to the UK in 4 standard sized shipping containers, which have a value of roughly 4 billion pounds. With such colossal figures, the government would have to make seizures of between 60-80per cent to make any significant impact on the industry. Currently they seize about 20 per cent.
One of the classic arguments used against drug liberalisation, and in particular against ecstasy, is the case of Leah Betts.
She died from taking a rogue ecstasy tablet in 1995.
The question one has to ask themselves is: what killed her? Was it ecstasy? Or was it the fact that drugs like ecstasy are not regulated in this country and therefore the government have no control over the composition of those drugs?
It is easy to make a scapegoat out of ecstasy. But I think there is compelling evidence to suggest that the tragedy of Leah could have been avoided had we not taken such a draconian view of our drug laws.
If we are really serious about combating the use of drugs in our society, then maybe it is time we all took a leaf out of Portugal’s book and decriminalise, regulate and control our drug use.
Joe Masi writes a weekly blog published every Monday on www.marketdraytonadvertiser.com
