Our 40 year war on drugs is proof of failure. Portugal is an example of an alternative. It is time for an exit strategy from our longest, costliest war!

Everyone knows that the war on drugs is a failure. Despite more than
$40 billion spent every year on the U.S. drug war and 500,000 people
behind bars on drug related offenses, drugs are as available as ever.
But what is the alternative? What would happen if a society decided to
treat drug use as a health issue instead of a criminal justice issue?
What if we stopped the futile effort of using force to decrease drug
consumption? What if we decriminalized drugs, not just marijuana, but
all drugs like heroin, cocaine and meth?

We've heard the horror scenarios that opponents of drug policy reform
recite: more addiction, more broken families and a crazy escalation of
crime and violence.

On the other side, advocates for decriminalization or legal regulation
say that we would be better off not criminalizing what's a health
issue. They advocate for education, prevention and treatment instead
of jail for drug abuse and leaving in peace those whose drug use does
not cause harm to others.

So who's right? You might be surprised to hear that this isn't just
about hypotheticals anymore. Portugal decriminalized all drugs 10
years ago and the results are in: decreased youth drug use, falling
overdose and HIV/AIDS rates, less crime, reduced criminal justice
expenditures, greater access to drug treatment, and safer and
healthier communities.

July 1st was the 10th anniversary of Portugal decriminalizing drug
use. In 2001, Portugal decriminalized the possession of small amounts
of all illicit substances. Having small amounts of drugs is no longer
a criminal offence. It's still against the rules; it just won't get
you thrown in jail or prison. It's a civil offense - like a ticket.
Portugal continues to punish sales and trafficking of illicit substances.

In Portugal's thoroughly re-envisioned drug policy, police officers
now issue citations - but do not arrest - persons found in possession
of small amounts of illicit substances. People who receive these
citations are ordered to appear at a "dissuasion commission," an
administrative panel that operates outside of the criminal justice
system. The panel, with two health practitioners and one legal
practitioner, examines the individual's circumstances and determines
whether to make treatment referrals, issue fines or impose other
non-criminal penalties.

Decriminalization in Portugal actually helped reduce the stigma around
drug use (without increasing it) and made drug use less politically
difficult to talk about. It encouraged better collaboration between
law enforcement and service providers, and allowed law enforcement to
focus on large-scale traffickers, resulting in increased seizures of
commercial quantities of illicit drugs.

The U.S. Drug Czar knows about Portugal's policy, but don't expect him
to acknowledge their success. Instead we continue to wage our
unwinnable war. June 17th marked the 40-year anniversary of the U.S.
war on drugs, a punitive criminal justice approach to drugs that has
cost taxpayers more than a trillion dollars, transformed the U.S. into
the largest incarcerator in the world, failed to significantly reduce
drug use, led to hundreds of thousands of overdose fatalities and
HIV/AIDS transmissions, and created shocking racial disparities that
exceed those of South Africa at the height of Apartheid.

Our 40 year war on drugs is proof of failure. Portugal is an example
of an alternative. It is time for an exit strategy from our longest,
costliest war!