Originally Posted by Bourke (Post 19858193)

I'm surprised no one has bought up Portugal. The Portugese decriminalised all drugs in 2001. Drug possesion and use is technically illegal but it does not go through the justice system. Basically the user has to go to some counseling sessions, maybe gets referred to a GP or something like AA, and thats it. Trafficking and transportation are still criminal offenses though. In the 12 years since the change drug use has gone down. Drug related crime has gone down, rates of STD infections from drug use have gone down, overdoes rates have gone down... And the gov't has saved a shit ton of money.

"The data show that, judged by virtually every metric, the Portuguese decriminalization framework has been a resounding success. Within this success lie self-evident lessons that should guide drug policy debates around the world."
http://www.cato.org/publications/whi...-drug-policies