Portugal may be winning the war on drugs — by ending it.

Portugal initially was scolded around the world for its experiment, as a weak link in the war on drugs, but today it’s hailed as a model. The World Health Organization and American Public Health Association have both praised decriminalization and a public health focus, as has the Global Commission on Drug Policy.
****

“I’ve hit rock bottom,” Brito told me despairingly. “I’m losing the person I most love in the world.”

His girlfriend, Teresa, is begging him to give up heroin. He wants to choose her; he fervently wants to quit. But he doesn’t know if he can, and he teared up as he said, “It’s like entering a boxing ring and facing Mike Tyson.”

Yet for all his suffering, Brito lives, because he’s Portuguese. The lesson that Portugal offers the world is that while we can’t eradicate heroin, it’s possible to save the lives of drug users — if we’re willing to treat them not as criminals but as sick, suffering human beings who need helping hands, not handcuffs.


https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/22/opinion/sunday/portugal-drug-decriminalization.html