Reference no: EM133725816

Question: I enjoyed reading your post. I was reading about what happened in Portugal when they stopped arresting people for having drugs and how they actually had fewer people in jail and more folks getting help for their drug problems. But here''s what I''m wondering, and maybe you''ve thought about this too: What if making drugs legal leads to more people trying drugs or getting into sex work? How would we handle that?

In Portugal they''ve also been doing this "no arrests for drugs" system since 2001. Instead of jail, they send people to talk to experts who can help them out (Greenwald, 2009). The results are pretty impressive - younger people are using fewer drugs, there''s less HIV going around, and more people are asking for help with their drug problems.

However, when I look at the other side Portugal''s drug decriminalization policy has shown some positive outcomes but it has some potential drawbacks and limitations. Critics argue that the policy may have led to an increase in drug tourism and could potentially normalize drug use, especially among young people. Furthermore, some contend that the reported benefits may be overstated or influenced by other factors beyond decriminalization (Laqueur, 2015).

A study by Laqueur (2015) suggests that the impact of Portugal''s drug policy may be less dramatic than often portrayed. The research indicates that many of the positive trends observed in Portugal were already in motion before the 2001 decriminalization, and that similar trends were seen in neighboring countries that did not decriminalize drugs. This raises questions about whether the improvements can be solely attributed to the decriminalization policy or if they are part of broader regional trends in drug use and public health.

Like anything else there's always two sides to every story. The question becomes how do we measure these to determine if the positive effects are greater than the limitations?

I also enjoyed the court cases you highlighted, especially Terry v. Ohio