Winning the War on Drugs: Drug Decriminalization in Portugal

Over twenty years ago, Portugal decriminalized the possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use, becoming one of the first countries in the world to adopt such an approach. Once known as the heroin capital of Europe, the country faced a severe drug crisis throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with rising addiction rates, open-air drug markets, and increasing overdose deaths.

This episode of SBS Dateline travels to Lisbon to examine Portugal’s model of drug decriminalization and the impact it has had since its introduction in 2001. Rather than treating drug use as a criminal offense, Portugal shifted its focus toward health, treatment, and harm reduction.

Along the way, the documentary explores how drug decriminalization works in practice, the role of social workers and health professionals, and why Portugal’s approach continues to attract international attention. It also examines what lessons countries such as Australia might draw from one of the world's most widely discussed drug policy reforms.

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"Today is Freedom Day in Portugal, a national holiday that celebrates the country's shift from authoritarian rule to democracy in 1974."

"Under Portugal's decriminalized drug policy, it's not considered a crime to have up to 10 days worth of drugs for personal use. For marijuana, that's 25 grams. For cocaine, it's 2 grams. For heroin, it's 1 gram."

"What we mean by decriminalizing is not the same thing as regulating or legalizing. Decriminalizing means that we no longer treat it has a criminal offense, but it's still an illegal activity, so we deal with as a misdemeanor offense."

"Instead of appearing before a judge, people found using drugs in Portugal meet with a panel of health experts and social workers. The emphasis is on treatment, not punishment, although repeat offenders can be fined."

"When democracy arrived in 1974, so did access to the outside world. Along with new prosperity came an influx of drugs. By the 90s, 1-in-10 people were using heroin and Casal Ventoso was home to the biggest open-air drug market in Europe. On average, one person in Portugal was dying from a drug overdose every single day."

"Since Portugal decriminalized drug use, the number of people using heroin has reduced by 75%. It now has the lowest drug-related death rate in Western Europe and drug use among young people is below the European average. But while drug use is down, smuggling and dealing is still a problem in Portugal."

"In Australia, illicit drug use is growing and changing. The Coronavirus pandemic has made it harder for users to access cocaine and heroin, while use of new emerging drugs, thought to be more potent and more deadly, has surged. Each state and territory designs its own drug laws and last year the ACT became the first jurisdiction to legalize the use and possession of small amounts of cannabis. Then, in February, a bill was introduced that would follow in Portugal's footsteps and decriminalize the possession of other illicit drugs."