To all the anti-constitutional, status quo-loving politicians from both parties who cower from police state brutes, your arguments stink of corruption and truthiness.
A new study about the effects of drug decriminalization in Portugal has undermined all the lies of police state drug warriors and reinforced what "harm reduction" advocates have been saying for years.
At the recommendation of a national commission charged with addressing Portugal's drug problem, jail time was replaced with the offer of therapy. The argument was that the fear of prison drives addicts underground and that incarceration is more expensive than treatment — so why not give drug addicts health services instead? [snip]
The paper, published by Cato in April, found that in the five years after personal possession was decriminalized, illegal drug use among teens in Portugal declined and rates of new HIV infections caused by sharing of dirty needles dropped, while the number of people seeking treatment for drug addiction more than doubled.
"Judging by every metric, decriminalization in Portugal has been a resounding success," says Glenn Greenwald, an attorney, author and fluent Portuguese speaker, who conducted the research.
Time article