The international use and misuse of the Portuguese (decriminalisation) example Dr Caitlin Hughes ISSDP/ESC meeting on Portuguese drug policy, Porto, 2.

The international use and misuse of the Portuguese (decriminalisation) example

Dr Caitlin HughesISSDP/ESC meeting on Portuguese drug policy, Porto, 2 Sep 2015

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Two prominent accounts of the reform “The resounding success” “The disastrous failure”

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“The resounding success”

Key conclusions: •Drug use reduced •Drug related-deaths reduced•Portugal faired much better than other

EU nations due to the reform

e.g. For the period 2001–2005, Portugal

—for the 15–64 age group—has the

absolute lowest lifetime prevalence

rate for cannabis in the EU

Accounts of the reform

“The disastrous failure”

Key conclusions: • Drug use increased (e.g. cannabis skyrocketed 150%)• Drug-related deaths went up • Drug-related homicides went up• Portugal faired much worse than other EU nations•e.g. Portugal has highest rate of HIV in injecting drug users in the EU.

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Accounts compared to the evidence: Lifetime cannabis use for school students

The disastrous failure The resounding success

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Accounts compared to the evidence: Drug-related death (INML data)

The resounding success

The disastrous failure

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The newer indicator of drug-induced deaths (INE)

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No data was collected on this indicator

Based on a false attribution to the 2009 World Drug Report:

While cocaine seizures in a number of European countries increased sharply during that period, in 2006, Portugal suddenly had the sixth-highest cocaine seizure total in the world. The number of murders increased 40% during this same period of time, a fact that might be related to the trafficking activity. Although the rate remains low and Lisbon is one of Europe’s safest cities, Portugal was the only European country to show a significant increase in murder during this period.

Evidence on ‘drug-related homicides’ ?

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Evidence: Homicides

Source: Eurostat

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Conclusion on the two divergent accounts (Hughes and Stevens, 2012)

“Considered analysis of the two most divergent accounts reveals that the Portuguese reform warrants neither the praise nor the condemnation of being a ‘resounding success’ or a ‘disastrous failure’, and that these divergent policy conclusions were derived from selective use of the evidence base that belie the nuanced, albeit largely positive, implications from this reform.”

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Other misuses pre and post these accounts1. Misconception that

Portugal ‘legalised’ drug use

2. Neglect of the role of the strategy in observed effects

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Uses of the reform

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Increased global attention to drug law reform• Increased global

attention to the issue of drug law reform

• Some say Portugal single-handedly got drug law reform back on the policy agenda

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Media mentions around the globe

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1. Global Commission on Drug Policy (2011)•Used to challenge perceived barriers to reform: “decriminalisation initiatives do not result in significant increases in drug use” (p.10).

•Used to support overall call to “end the criminalization, marginalization and stigmatization of people who use drugs” and “encourage experimentation by governments with models of legal regulation of drugs” and “decriminalization of all illicit drugs” (p.4).

2. World Health Organisation (2014)•“Case study: Decriminalizing drug use in Portugal” (p.92)

•Used to show public health benefits including to treatment access and reductions in HIV and to support final recommendation:

•“Countries should work toward developing policies and laws that decriminalize injection and other use of drugs and, thereby, reduce incarceration.” (p. 91)

Incited important proponents of reform

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• Fed into or shaped reform proposals in countries including the US, UK, Ireland, Malta and most recently Australia

• UK Home Affairs Select Committee (2012)• Visited Portugal and issued a report noting: “We were impressed by what

we saw of the Portuguese depenalised system. It had clearly reduced public concern about drug use in that country, and was supported by all political parties and the police…..”

• Recommended that the responsible ministers from the Department of Health and the Home Office visit Portugal & examine its system of depenalisation

• Former UK Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg (The Guardian - April 2015):

• “We should look to Portugal, which removed criminal penalties for drug possession in 2001. Portugal’s reforms have not – as many predicted – led to an increase in drug use. … We should set up pilots to test and develop a British version of the Portuguese model. The evidence suggests it will be cheaper, more effective at reducing harm… “

Informed other nations drug law reform efforts

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• Malta • Issued a White Paper (2014) reviewing evidence on Portugal

and concluded: “decriminalization is likely to have a positive impact in Malta”

• April 2015 new laws came into force with a Portuguese style system:

• Removed criminal penalties for all drug possession for personal use• First offence - fine • Second offence - attendance at Drug Offenders Rehabilitation Board

• Ireland • 3 day delegation (of members of Legislative Committee on

Justice, Defence, and Equality) to Portugal in June 2015• Led to report and a public consultation (August 2015)• Recommendation due October 2015

Other international reform efforts…

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• Australia• Greens MP Richard Di Natale visited Portugal in July 2015• Called for bipartisan support to overhaul Australia's drug policy so it is in

line with Portugal's• Also recognised that “it’s about more than changing the laws…”• “It’s not as simple as just removing criminal penalties for drug use. …..

What this shows us is that changing the laws alone is not enough. We need to see that money reinvested in education, in health care and in prevention. Then we will see a decline in drug use.” (Di Natale, 2015)

Other nations reform efforts…

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• The Portuguese reform has sparked considerable interest• Some examples of misuse, but also many examples of use• Overtime there appears to be less instances of misuse

• Advocates e.g. Transform, IDPC and DPA • Portuguese policy makers• Academic accounts

• This increases the capacity that the Portuguese reform will lead to further positive international influence and uptake

Conclusion and discussion

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• Timing• Mass publicity: even if erroneous• That it employed a reform that remains highly

novel in terms of the inclusion of all illicit drugs • Framing as a health and social response • That in spite of the various and divergent accounts

that there is actually a middle ground that provides fairly uncontroversial evidence of positive health, social, economic and criminal benefits

Why has Portugal’s reform sparked such responses?

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Thank You!

For more information:

Dr Caitlin Hughes

Senior Research Fellow

NDARC, UNSW Australia

[email protected]

www.ndarc.med.unsw.edu.au