Portugal’s drug decriminalization experiment in one chart

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In 2001, Portugal took a bold new direction in their fight against the drug epidemic: decriminalizing it all, refocusing their efforts on rehabilitating addicts rather than treating them as criminals. Over a decade later, the results speak for themselves:

Bar chart: “Fourteen years after decriminalizing drugs, Portugal has one of the lowest overdose rates in all of Europe”, showing Portugal in position 30 of 31 countries (3 drug-induced deaths per million, ages 15 to 64)

Meanwhile, the top law enforcement official in the United States wants to jump-start the Drug War by bringing back long-failed policies and cracking down on pot users.

What a contrast.

(via @ggreenwald)

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