Norska Aftenposten skriver idag att ”Avkriminaliseringen av narkotika i Portugal er en suksess”. I Norge pågår just nu en het debatt om narkotikapolitiken, inte minst efter att Ketil Lund, en tidigare domare i Norges högsta domstol meddelade att Det har vært rystende å erkjenne hva jeg egentlig har vært med på». Han slår fast at den drastiske satsingen på straff har vært et «brutalt og tragisk feilgrep.

Idag hänvisar ingen till Holland som ”role model” för narkotikapolitiken. Nu är Portugal inne efter att en amerikansk jurist skrev en rapport om sakernas tillstånd i Portugal. Brittiska The Economist var inte sen att hänga på Portugal-trenden och helt plötsligt är det Portugal som gäller.

Alla som arbetar i Portugal håller inte med vare sig den amerikanske juristen eller Aftenposten vilket framgår av följande, författat av Dr Manuel Pinto Coelho som är verksam i Portugal.

On Portuguese drug policy

The following article was submitted by Dr. Manuel Pinto Coelho who is the president of APLD (Associação Portuguesa Livre de Drogas - The Association for a Drug-Free Portugal)

The current Portuguese policy of 'fighting' (sic) drug addiction has perversely exceeded the idea that drugs can be consumed safely and responsibly.

Instead of making the welfare of drug dependents (and their extended families, friends, and colleagues) a priority, and questioning what can be done to discourage the consumption of addictive substances, the Government has instead opted to use needles, syringes and substitution drugs for these addicts, with the pretext of implementing a more humane public health policy.  The real purpose of these measures is more apparent: to reduce the visibility of drug addicts and the "inconvenience" that these addicts cause to society. In reality, the current concern is the image, what is actually essential is becoming increasingly invisible.

In fact, the ‘policy makers’ are trying to win the 'drug battle' by taking care of those traumatized victims by 'treating the wounds' rather than realizing that the real goal of prevention programs is to avoid the addicts' need for drugs, not just trying to ‘heal the wounds’ and send them back to their world of drugs.

With the exception of a few extremely rare and honorable policy makers, those that mandate the decisions do not understand that giving an addict a needle is like giving matches to arsonists.

It is heartbreaking and tormenting that our disoriented young generation is becoming more and more exposed to the current prevention methods. Given the enormous importance of role models, one should acknowledge and challenge the statements of well-known Ze Pedro of "Xutos and Pontapes' (who was able to overcome with flying colors his acknowledged dependence on drugs):  "I'm not sorry to have experienced all that was available.  I feel well now, free from all of the temptations and self-disciplined, just as I felt when days passed without even going to bed. (Source:  Máxima No. 242, November 2008, p. 140)

If Ze Pedro admitted that he felt good when consuming drugs, what was the real reason that he chose to give them up?

A month earlier, Tim, the lead singer of the same band, admitted in the pages of Expresso :  "The Xutos were some 'gandas crazy' (maniacs).  We still are sometimes. Part of the growth of a band (...) (...) When it starts, the adrenaline has to be very high, we must be conceived as needed by people, to be available to everyone (...) (...) not sleeping, not eating, drinking cups (...) (...) after all, we are counting our pennies to buy a pack of cigarettes and related drugs included (...)".  (Source:  Expresso - Actual, October 11, 2008, p. 11)

Obviously, if this group had chosen a more insightful approach regarding their fame as (Portuguese) teenage idols they  could  have modeled accountable, positive ways to convince young people that there are no safe and responsible ways of taking drugs, and that using drugs inevitably compromises their health and quality of life.

In Portugal, drug addiction is defined as a "sickness", suggesting that drug victims are “ill”.   Based on this principle, taking drugs does not necessarily entail consequences; rather, those who suffer from this "sickness" are considered impaired and faced as objects for “treatment”, those who does not suffer don´t take them.

As a result: A significant proportion of the population is destroyed with drugs, inhibiting their ability to rehabilitate under the guise of a compassionate pragmatic humanism.

Citizens pay the bill.  This is one more to add to the list labeled ‘public spending’.

The numbers are impressive:  During the year of 2008 each Portuguese citizen paid 7.5 euros towards the current drug policy.  Compassion is a virtue, but to be true, it requires acknowledging that these victims need help to completely stop using drugs; only then can damages and costs be reduced.  Preserving addictions with public money is not the solution. 

Is a drug-free life possible?  Yes, it is.  But this requires that the government changes the attitude and current culture of "poor addicted things" as well as a consensus of correct political values.

Manuel Pinto Coelho

President of APLD (The Association for a Drug-Free Portugal)

Läs också:

Holland ute – Portugal inne?

Decriminalization of drugs in Portugal- The real facts