High Price

critical thinking skills, that they had been hoodwinked and miseducated for much of their lives about what drugs do and don’t do. I used a mountain of scientific data to call into question some of the purported damaging effects of the “hard drugs” on brain functioning. I explained that there has been an ongoing concerted effort to overstate the dangers of drugs like cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine. The primary players in this effort are scientists, law enforcement officials, politicians, and the media.
    While I acknowledged the potential for abuse and harm caused by these drugs, I emphasized that there had been extensive misinterpretation of the scientific evidence and considerable hyping of anecdotal reports. This situation, I explained, has not only wrongly stigmatized drug users and abusers; it has also led to misguided policy making. Does this mean that drug legalization is the only option available to us when we reconsider what drug policies should be in place? Of course not. Drug prohibition, the most prevalent current form of drug policy, and drug legalization are on opposite ends of the drug policy continuum. There are multiple options in between.
    One such option is drug decriminalization. Decriminalization is often confused with legalization. They are not the same thing. Here’s the major difference: Under legalization, the sale, acquisition, use, and possession of drugs are legal. Our current policies regulating alcohol and tobacco, for those of legal age, are examples of drug legalization. Under decriminalization, on the other hand, the acquisition, use, and possession of drugs can be punished by a citation much like traffic violations are. Mind you, drugs still are not legal, but infractions do not lead to criminal convictions—the one thing that has prevented so many from obtaining employment, housing, governmental benefits, treatment, and so on. This is crucial when you consider this fact: each year, more than 80 percent of arrests in the United States for drug offenses involves only simple possession. 1 Sales of all illicit drugs, however, remain criminal offenses under decriminalization laws.
    Drug decriminalization isn’t a new concept. In fact, a handful of states, including California and Massachusetts, have decriminalized marijuana. Although the specifics vary from state to state, in general the laws read something like this: any person caught with less than an ounce of marijuana or smoking in public is punishable by a civil fine of one hundred dollars. No state has decriminalized other illegal drugs. You might ask, why not? Well, before answering, it might be informative for us to look at the Portugal experiment.
    Back in 2001, Portugal took the unprecedented step of decriminalizing all illegal drugs. That’s right, cocaine; heroin; methamphetamine; 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, aka ecstasy and molly); everything. Here’s how it works there. Acquisition, possession, and use of recreational drugs for personal use—defined as quantities up to a ten-day supply—are no longer criminal offenses. Users stopped by police and found to have drugs are given the equivalent of a traffic ticket, rather than being arrested and stigmatized with a criminal record. The ticket requires them to appear before a local panel called (in translation) the Commission for Dissuasion of Drug Addiction, typically consisting of a social worker, a medical professional like a psychologist or psychiatrist, and a lawyer. Note that a police officer is not included.
    The panel is set up to address a potential health problem. The idea is to encourage users to honestly discuss their drug use with people who will serve as health experts and advisers, not adversaries. The person sits at a table with the panel. If he or she is not thought to have a drug problem, nothing further is usually required, other than payment of a fine. Treatment is recommended for those who are found to have drug problems—and referral for appropriate care is made. Still, treatment attendance is not mandatory. Repeat offenders, however—fewer than 10 percent of those seen every year—can receive noncriminal punishments like suspension of their driver’s license or being banned from a specific neighborhood known for drug sales.
    How has decriminalization been working out for the people of Portugal? Overall, they have increased spending on prevention and treatment, and decreased spending for criminal prosecution and imprisonment.