Portugal at the Forefront: the Decriminalization of Drugs in Europe

Portugal at the Forefront: the Decriminalization of Drugs in Europe

The Conflict

In Europe of the early 2000s there is widespread belief that the United States-led "War on Drugs" has been a failure. There have been two opposing European models of handling narcotics issues: the strict criminal treatment of drug users and traffickers that has been adopted by Sweden, and the decriminalization of "soft" drugs such as cannabis in the Netherlands. In 2001 Portugal decriminalized the use of both "soft" and "hard" (heroin, cocaine, opium) drugs. Enforcement of any drug policy demands cooperation on an international basis, but particularly among the European Union nations, which are divided on which policy is the best to follow.

Political

• Within the country of Portugal there is disagreement on the issue of drug policy. Those who are for decriminalizing drugs believe that drug addiction and use should be treated as medical conditions. Those who oppose decriminalization fear that society at large will be disrupted by drugs. As a social disruption, according to this sector, drug use cannot be treated as a medical problem, nor can drug users be treated as victims.
• The European Union seeks standardization in its policies. Forging a consensus from such disparate positions on drug policy as held by the EU's member states represents a great challenge.

• This is a free page. This page contains 201 words. This article contains 7,693 words (approx. 26 pages at 300 words per page).

  Read the rest of this Article with our Portugal at the Forefront: the Decriminalization of Drugs in Europe Access Pass.