PORTUGAL SHIFTS AIM IN DRUG WAR

A new Law Focuses On Treating Drug Users, Rather Than Jailing Them.

When Alberto de Oliveria was stopped in the Lisbon metro recently, he
feared the worst: Being caught with heroin could mean a return to
jail. "I was afraid," he recalls. "But the police didn't arrest me.
They just sent me to a drug commission that told me I needed
treatment."

Mr. Oliveria is one of the first to benefit from a new law, in effect
since July 1, that focuses on trying to rehabilitate drug users.
Portugal has become the first European country to decriminalize the
use - but not sale - of all drugs, from cannabis to crack cocaine.

The change solidifies a significant shift away from the punitive
approach in socially conservative Portugal, where a consensus had
formed that criminalizing drug use was a failed policy. In enacting
the new legislation, Portugal mirrors attitudes in more liberal Spain
and Italy, which, instead of imposing criminal punishment on drug
use, have historically limited the punishment to fines and other
administrative sanctions, such as enrollment in a drug-treatment
program.

Danilo Ballotta, a drug-law specialist at the Lisbon-based European
Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, says the recent
changes in Portugal reflect a European movement to treat the use of
drugs as a health - rather than a criminal - issue.

"Even in those countries where there is strict legislation, there
seems to be a movement towards more progressive legislation," Mr.
Ballotta says.

Previously in Portugal, those possessing or consuming small amounts
of drugs faced up to one year in jail, although that law was rarely
enforced. The police had stopped arresting suspects, and the courts
were throwing out cases against users rather than apply legislation
that sent them to prison.

Now, for possession of heroin, de Oliveria is enrolled in a methadone
clinic, trying to kick his 20-year heroin addiction.

"We see that prohibition has failed," says Vitalino Canas, Portugal's
drug czar. But he is quick to say that the country has not gone soft
on drugs. "We are not liberalizing nor legalizing drugs. But those
that use them shouldn't go to jail. Users are sick people. Only if
they do not accept treatment will we impose administrative
sanctions." The sanctions include fines of up to several hundred
dollars and public service.

Removing drug users from the criminal justice system will allow
Portuguese police to turn more energy toward catching those
importing, dealing, and possessing large quantities of narcotics.
"Traffickers are our enemy," says Canas, "and now we can focus our
efforts on them."

Portugal is considered to be one of the main gateways for drugs
entering Europe. Addiction rates are among the highest in Europe,
with an estimated 80,000 heroin addicts in a population of 10
million. The Netherlands, by comparison, has about 25,000 in a
population of 16 million. To help addicts, and to crack down harder
on traffickers, Portugal is raising its drugs-fighting budget to
$104.5 million, up from $34 million in 1995.

Critics of the new law say it will make the situation in the country
worse. "There will be planeloads of students headed for the Algarve
to smoke marijuana," Paulo Portas, the head of the opposition Popular
Party, warned as the law was passed.

Authorities claim there is no evidence of "drug tourists" yet, and
Portugal has no intention of becoming Europe's drug-party haven.
Holland is still significantly more liberal in practice.

In Portugal, a newly established drug commission determines what will
happen to a user detained by police. Marijuana smokers not deemed at
risk for harder drugs, for example, are dismissed with a warning,
while those addicted to harder drugs are sent to treatment centers.
If the commission's recommendations are ignored, or in cases of
repeat offenses, administrative sanctions are imposed, including
fines up to the equivalent of one minimum monthly wage, suspension of
the right to travel abroad, or a requirement of public service. The
user can also be banned from a profession or location if he presents
a danger to others.

So far, the modest number of cases suggest that police are choosing
to enforce the law only occasionally. The commission in Lisbon has
seen an average of about three cases per day.

Portugal has also passed another law aimed at treating users. In the
Lisbon neighborhood of Curraleira, where trash tangles with weeds
around weathered public housing, a bus dispensing free methadone
began making runs three weeks ago. Addicts line up in the gray of an
early Saturday morning for their daily dose.

Luis Ferreira, a thin man with a scraggly beard and matted hair,
hopes that joining the methadone treatment will allow him to kick his
five-year addiction. "I was begging in the train stations" to get
enough money for heroin, he said. "Now I have a chance to take charge
of my life."

When the methadone bus first pulled into the neighborhood, dealers
threw stones and yelled at the staff, says the nurse on duty. "They
are afraid we will take away their customers."