Europe’s Best Kept Secret: Portuguese Drug Decriminalization.

In late 2001, Portugal decriminalized the possession of all drugs; not just cannabis, but also other street drugs such as heroin, cocaine, LSD and so on and so forth. That was then, this is now. What has happened since? The important point to take away from Glen Greenwald’s recent talk at CATO is what didn’t happen. Predictions of dire consequence did not play out. Opposition to the decriminalization among the various major political factions in Portugal is now virtually non-existent. In fact, the results have been so boring that few outside the country even know of Portugal’s experiment.

An other issue raised (yet not fully developed) in the talk is the extent to which international law (treaty obligations, in this case) obstructs efforts at more localized drug law reform.

Portugal is the dog that didn’t bark. Perhaps our keepers in Washington should take note.