Portugal assesses its softer approach to drug users

When the initiative was passed last year, it drew criticism from conservative politicians and some members of the Roman Catholic church. Paulo Portas, former leader of the Popular Party and now the nation's defense minister, strongly condemned the law, concerned that it would turn the country into a haven for drug trafficking and drug tourism. Under the new program, trafficking is still a crime.

"There has been no indication that more traffickers have come to the country or that drug use or drug tourism is increasing," says Vitalino Canas, a member of parliament who directed the program last year as the secretary of state under the Socialist government. He says that it is still too early to assess the full impact of the program.

It is unclear whether the program will result in more trafficking arrests. Since the start of the program in July 2001, 1,892 people have been caught for trafficking, about the same number as were caught last year.

Still, at least with regard to drug users, the public has a new perception that something is being done, says Pais. "The sense of impunity has disappeared, since consumers, when caught by the police, are considered very rapidly by [the commissions]," she says. "Before, processes could take as long as two years to be taken to court. Nowadays, within four to five weeks a decision is taken."

When the new conservative government took office last spring, it threatened to abandon the program, says Danilo Ballotta, an expert at the European Union Monitoring Center for Drug and Drug Addiction in Lisbon. Instead, the program was moved under the health department to fit in line with the philosophy that drug users are patients, not criminals, and no major structural changes were made.

"It is very rare that a new government, of different colors, would take the same program and not change it. I think that shows it is working well and that the people are in favor of it," Ballotta says. "[The government] realized that it is the trend in Europe – new legislation that softens policies toward drug users, just like in Spain and Italy."

The government is considering cutting back the program, however.

Officials are studying the possibility of closing down some of the 18 commissions because, although Pais says that coordination between the police and the commissions is growing. not enough users are being sent to the commissions to keep them busy.

And other reductions may be on the way. "Treatment is controlled by outsources, and the problem is the cost," Ballotta says. "Whenever public money is cut, one of the first places it is cut from is health."

The decriminalization project is part of a comprehensive anti-drug campaign set to run until 2004, when a fuller assessment will be made. The campaign includes education and prevention programs in jails and in classrooms, from elementary school to college; media initiatives; and information programs in parent associations.

One of the major components is risk-reduction, including needle exchange programs, methadone centers, and street teams of health care workers who drive around drug-infested neighborhoods and distribute information along with clean needles.

According to the national drug institute's web site, public spending is to increase 10 percent per year until 2004, up to $1.53 billion.

The program is having an important impact on public opinion, according to the national drug institute's evaluation.

"We are experiencing a revolution of mentalities," says Pais, "which facilitates the social integration process so that drug users aren't marginalized."

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