Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work?(Time)

According to the "Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work?(Time)", Although its capital is notorious among stoners and college kids for marijuana haze-filled “coffee shops,” Holland has never actually legalized cannabis – the Dutch simply don’t enforce their laws against the shops. The correct answer is Portugal, which in 2001 became the first European country to officially abolish all criminal penalties for personal possession of drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.


My Reaction:
Many drugs are used for medical surgery because they can relieve pain or make us forget about the feeling of hardship. These drugs include nicotine, cocaine and heroin. Therefore, people may possess some drugs. However, the situation is likely to result in crime. Although the policy helps Portuguese government a lot to manage and control the drug problem, we still can’t confirm that the policy is beneficial to every country, especially to those in poor economical status. If it is adopted by the government of poor countries, the rate of taking drugs will increase rather than decrease.

There are some pros and cons to decriminalize drugs. For some patients, they can buy drugs in pharmacy on their own. For the government, it’s a challenge to control the import of drugs and the policy may lead to drug abuse. It can be a dilemma for many countries to think deeply about whether to carry out the special policy or not.(221 words)