Portugal's decriminalization of cannabis: a success?
In Europe, Portugal enjoys a special status when it comes to drug policy. In 2001, it became the first European country to decriminalize the use of all drugs. This pioneering policy was prompted by an inability to stem the massive flow of drugs from South America and Morocco. In the 1990s, the use of hard drugs was so alarming that people addicts heroin addicts were estimated at 100,000, or almost 1% of the country's population.
Since the 2001 law, this figure has been halved. 90% of the budget allocated to the fight against drugs is earmarked for prevention and monitoring the consumption of drug users. Drug addicts« are considered to be people who have chosen to use psychoactive substances, rather than criminals. Portugal authorizes the possession of small doses of drugs, provided their use is personal, controlled and not abused on the public highway.
On the downside, this decriminalization of drugs still leaves the door wide open to street dealers, who are never bothered if they have small quantities on their person. However, the changes observed since decriminalization are numerous and generally positive:
- Slight increase in illicit drug use among adults, but sharp decline among teenagers (15-19 years).
- Reducing the burden of drug offenders on the criminal justice system
- Increase in the number of drug treatments
- Reducing opioid-related deaths and infectious diseases
- Increase in drug seizures
Cannabis use in Portugal
The use of cannabis in Portugal comes from its former Indian colony of Goa, a province where Cannabis Sativa L. is widespread. Cannabis consumption was also brought over from Portugal's former African colonies, Mozambique and Angola. Currently, most of the weed smoked in Portugal comes from its Spanish neighbor, and the hashish imported directly from Morocco. Historians also speculate that some Renaissance settlers returned from Brazil with shipments of cannabis.
Cannabis regulations are clear:
- each person may possess up to 25 grams of cannabis for personal use at home
- cannabis cultivation is prohibited
- the law allows you to carry a maximum of 2.5 grams of weed
Since the economic crisis of 2008, the number of «small-time dealers» has been increasing every year, often to make ends meet. Street prices range from €5 to €10 a gram, for varying qualities.
Several forums advise tourists to avoid drug dealers and turn to smart-shops, a kind of herbalist's shop selling small quantities illegally. These smart-shops have a vague legal status (rather like coffeeshops in the Netherlands) and even sell hallucinogenic mushrooms and certain synthetic drugs.
If you are stopped in the street or manage to find the smart-shop, the password is Ganza for greenery and Bolata for quality pot. Be careful, though: the deal is done in a hurry, and you may well end up with herbes de Provence or Carambar.
Cannabis law in Portugal
Despite a certain degree of freedom, Portuguese cannabis consumers are calling for more comprehensive regulation. With dealers often supplying poor-quality products, consumers are calling for cannabis to be legalized, and therefore regulated by the state. In particular, legalization could relieve congestion in the Portuguese courts. In 2015, 82% commissions de justice«, the Lusitanian equivalent of our »rappel à la loi«, were issued for cannabis consumption.
In 2015, Justice Minister Paula Texeira da Cruz spoke out in favor of regulating cannabis use. She called for the decriminalization of self-growers for personal use. This call has not been taken up by the upper echelons of government. Portugal could also draw inspiration from the Spanish Cannabis Social Club model. In 2013, Portugal had already rejected a law proposing to authorize self-cultivation.
On the medical side, Portugal authorizes Sativex, a product offered by the British firm GW Pharmaceuticals for multiple sclerosis sufferers. The English company has appointed Terra Verde as its relay in Portugal to grow cannabis for therapeutic purposes. For the time being, plants must not exceed 2% THC.
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Peter Nikopol
May 29, 2017 at 17 h 41 min
the situation on the ground
cops are always after drug dealers
you go straight to court for small quantities
everything is filthy
impossible to find real or overpriced weed
impossible to find a good tank, only Moroccan crap we haven't seen since the 90s
if not heroine and coc I tried a dozen times knowing that someone was going to try to rip me off and each time it was an attempt to fuck me over.
a rule .... if the dealer is Moroccan or black it's 100 percent of the fuck.
the portuguese are the same, they're negroes in white disguise
they're pebble-suckers
it's the Middle Ages and far from being a drug paradise.
Ray31
July 17, 2017 at 1 h 06 min
Do you realize how much bullshit you spew out of your asshole? By the way, your mouth is where your asshole used to be! Racist, hateful and enraged, a liar and a fabricator, and on top of that you're spreading disinformation.
Racist, hateful and enraged because your comments as niggers and comments on Moroccans and blacks but also on the Portuguese are a disgrace. You're only here to spew your depraved insanity. In any case, stay in France in your shitty country or wherever you come from. At least in France there's no shop and no legalization or decriminalization, so while you're at it, stay in your own damn country before you come complaining. Piece of shit.
Liars and pretenders, because not everyone is a scammer. As everywhere in the world, there are always locals who will rip off the poor stupid tourists who don't even bother to check before giving their money. So you only have yourself to blame. Stupid you are, stupid you'll always be.
Propaganda and misinformation, because what you're saying here is shameful. In France it's no better, there are also crooks who rip off the first ones who don't even bother to check, to go to the right places. In France there's a lot of crap. What we call «commercial» and since you clearly have all the trappings of a stupid tourist, you didn't even try to find out about the right dealers first. The best dopes you find come mainly from blacks and Moroccans, and for that you need to go to the right neighborhoods and the right places, not just throw yourself at the first guy you come across. What did you think? That there's no scam in France? No shit when it comes to shit, weed and coconuts? Huh? The country with the most crap and the most scams is France. You're still living like backward people with your rotten legislation and colonialist mentality. In Portugal, we stopped criminalizing consumers a long time ago, we're the 1st European country to have decriminalized cannabis, we're the 1st European country to have opened shouting rooms to avoid finding squats or even drug addicts doing it in the street. Can you say the same in your own shitty country? Can you? No, so please shut up before you spew your racist, misleading bullshit. When you've got an asshole for a mouth, you should shut the fuck up.
What's with these down-and-out French who come to our country in Portugal, and on top of that dare to criticize us? As always, that's all you French know how to do, criticize and spread your hate. Always giving lessons when you're full of flaws. Dirty FDP. Another Frenchman who comes to Portugal just to get high for less and gets screwed because he's too stupid to go to the right places. It's your own fault. There aren't just honest drug dealers, there are also hustlers who aren't dealers but who take advantage of the naivety of tourists like you. And in any case, hustlers never do this in front of real black or Moroccan or Portuguese dealers, because they'll get their asses kicked if they get caught stepping on the real dealers' toes, and on top of that, it's not good for buseness when hustlers do this to their potential customers. NEVER in front of them, or it'll go very badly for them. So you've only got yourself to blame, you inbred congenital moron. No but oh!
We've got bastos, we've got frappe, unlike you in France. Not only do we have superb quality, but it's also a lot cheaper. Before jumping like idiots on the first to come, first find out where to go, who to see and how, but also and above all always check before you buy. The customer is the first rule of a true busenessman.
But look at your own country, France. In Paris we're ripped off on every street corner by drug addicts desperate to get their next fix. No wonder you have to come to us in Portugal to get high cheaper and with quality. Big shit, look in the mirror first, then we'll talk. These poor French people are forced to go to Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Uruguay, Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic and many other countries around the world.... Even the USA is opening up. Everywhere. Everywhere but you, the French, you bunch of soft balls, you big shit. We can't stand you anymore. You play the wise man in your own country but you come to other countries to party, let loose, do all the shit you never do at home in front of your parents and neighbors. You come and make other countries sick and then you criticize. You're full of shit.
Ray31
July 17, 2017 at 1 h 06 min
Then why are you coming to Portugal? You piece of shit. You're a piece of shit dressed in white. He's a racist but he doesn't mind going to other countries. But stay in France, we don't want people like you in Portugal. We're more evolved, more open, more tolerant...unlike you French. You son of a bitch. You're scroungers, you come to the cheaper countries because you're so cheap and poor, and on top of that you dare to stir up shit when you leave France. Look at what you're doing in Spain: people can't take it anymore because of you French. You go there to disgust the country with your abuses, you don't do that in front of your parents and neighbors in FRANCE BUT when you come to other countries you let yourselves go and do what you'd never do in your own shitty country. We in Portugal will never let you do what you did in Spain.
Do you realize how much bullshit you spew out of your asshole? By the way, your mouth is where your asshole used to be! Racist, hateful and enraged, a liar and a fabricator, and on top of that you're spreading disinformation.
Racist, hateful and enraged because your comments as niggers and comments on Moroccans and blacks but also on the Portuguese are a disgrace. You're only here to spew your depraved insanity. In any case, stay in France in your shitty country or wherever you come from. At least in France there's no shop and no legalization or decriminalization, so while you're at it, stay in your own damn country before you come complaining. Piece of shit.
Liars and pretenders, because not everyone is a scammer. As everywhere in the world, there are always locals who will rip off the poor stupid tourists who don't even bother to check before giving their money. So you only have yourself to blame. Stupid you are, stupid you'll always be.
Propaganda and misinformation, because what you're saying here is shameful. In France it's no better, there are also crooks who rip off the first ones who don't even bother to check, to go to the right places. In France there's a lot of crap. What we call «commercial» and since you clearly have all the trappings of a stupid tourist, you didn't even try to find out about the right dealers first. The best dopes you find come mainly from blacks and Moroccans, and for that you need to go to the right neighborhoods and the right places, not just throw yourself at the first guy you come across. What did you think? That there's no scam in France? No shit when it comes to shit, weed and coconuts? Huh? The country with the most crap and the most scams is France. You're still living like backward people with your rotten legislation and colonialist mentality. In Portugal, we stopped criminalizing consumers a long time ago, we're the 1st European country to have decriminalized cannabis, we're the 1st European country to have opened shouting rooms to avoid finding squats or even drug addicts doing it in the street. Can you say the same in your own shitty country? Can you? No, so please shut up before you spew your racist, misleading bullshit. When you've got an asshole for a mouth, you should shut the fuck up.
What's with these down-and-out French who come to our country in Portugal, and on top of that dare to criticize us? As always, that's all you French know how to do, criticize and spread your hate. Always giving lessons when you're full of flaws. Dirty FDP. Another Frenchman who comes to Portugal just to get high for less and gets screwed because he's too stupid to go to the right places. It's your own fault. There aren't just honest drug dealers, there are also hustlers who aren't dealers but who take advantage of the naivety of tourists like you. And in any case, hustlers never do this in front of real black or Moroccan or Portuguese dealers, because they'll get their asses kicked if they get caught stepping on the real dealers' toes, and on top of that, it's not good for buseness when hustlers do this to their potential customers. NEVER in front of them, or it'll go very badly for them. So you've only got yourself to blame, you inbred congenital moron. No but oh!
We've got bastos, we've got frappe, unlike you in France. Not only do we have superb quality, but it's also a lot cheaper. Before jumping like idiots on the first to come, first find out where to go, who to see and how, but also and above all always check before you buy. The customer is the first rule of a true busenessman.
But look at your own country, France. In Paris we're ripped off on every street corner by drug addicts desperate to get their next fix. No wonder you have to come to us in Portugal to get high cheaper and with quality. Big shit, look in the mirror first, then we'll talk. These poor French people are forced to go to Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Uruguay, Italy, Belgium, the Czech Republic and many other countries around the world.... Even the USA is opening up. Everywhere. Everywhere but you, the French, you bunch of soft balls, you big shit. We can't stand you anymore. You play the wise man in your own country but you come to other countries to party, let loose, do all the shit you never do at home in front of your parents and neighbors. You come and make other countries sick and then you criticize. You're full of shit.
Ray31
July 17, 2017 at 1 h 14 min
You're talking shit. All lies. Just because you've been ripped off doesn't mean it's the norm. Generally speaking, if the real dealers see hustlers posing as dealers and ripping off customers, they get their asses kicked. Dealers don't want to see their business jeopardized by a few black sheep who aren't dealers and aren't there to do business. On the contrary, like everywhere else in the world, it's the drug addicts who do it to pay for their fix. So obviously there are tourist traps. You're too stupid to check what you're buying. And if a real dealer sees this, I can guarantee you that the hustlers will get their heads smashed in because they're stepping on the toes of the dealers who are there to do business. The dealer's aim is to build customer loyalty and a good reputation, otherwise customers won't come back. So it's your own fault if you get duped by drug addicts posing as dealers. In Portugal, there's a real hit. Top quality. Moroccan pot is seum. Real seum. Superior quality. The weed is excellent and the coconuts are first-rate. What's more, it's cheaper than the shit you get in France. What's more, you're still backward in France: you haven't yet legalized, decriminalized or anything like that, whereas everywhere in the world, even the United States, is changing its mentality and legislation with regard to soft drugs. And then you insult us. You're just drug addicts who come to us to get high for less and with better quality. Pitifully pathetic, racist French assholes.