Portugal is known worldwide for a bold choice: in 2001 it was among the first countries to decriminalise the use of all drugs, including heroin and cocaine, treating addiction as a public health problem rather than a crime. More than twenty years on, the "Portuguese model" is studied by governments and experts everywhere.
The 1990s epidemic
In the 1980s and 1990s Portugal, recently out of dictatorship and long isolated, was swept by a heroin epidemic. An estimated 1% of the population used it; almost every family knew someone affected. In Lisbon the Casal Ventoso neighbourhood had become one of Europe's largest open-air drug markets. HIV infections among people who inject drugs were among the highest in the European Union, and prisons were full of people convicted for drug use.
The reform
In 1998 the government asked a committee of experts, including the doctor João Goulão, who would become the face of the reform, to draw up a national strategy. The result was Law 30/2000, which came into force in July 2001. Possession of drugs for personal use, up to an amount corresponding to about ten days' consumption, is no longer a crime but an administrative offence. Those stopped do not go to court: the drugs are seized and the person is summoned before a Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction, made up of a lawyer, a doctor or psychologist and a social worker, which assesses the situation and can propose treatment, impose penalties such as fines or community service, or close the case.
It is important to understand what the reform did not do: drugs were not legalised, dealing and trafficking remain severely punished crimes, and public use is still banned. The real heart of the model was a massive increase in resources for prevention, treatment (with widely available methadone programmes), harm reduction and social and work reintegration.
The results
Over the next twenty years the results were largely seen as positive: new HIV infections among drug users collapsed, overdose deaths remained among the lowest in Western Europe, the number of people in prison for drug offences fell and the number in treatment rose. Overall use did not explode, as critics had feared, and the country did not become a "drug tourism" destination.
Recent criticism
In recent years the model has shown signs of strain. After the 2011 crisis, funding and the body coordinating drug policy were scaled back, and in some cities, especially Porto and some Lisbon neighbourhoods, visible street use has increased, including crack, prompting protests from residents and shopkeepers. Political debate has reignited, with some calling for more policing and others for more investment in the health and social services that made the reform a success. Lisbon has opened some supervised consumption sites.
A lesson for Europe
The Portuguese case shows that decriminalisation alone is not enough: it works when backed by well-funded health, treatment and social inclusion services. That is why it remains a reference point in the international debate on drug policy. For a wider picture of the country, see Portugal today and healthcare in Portugal.