Could decriminalisation solve Scotland's drug problem?

Scotland has the highest drugs decease complaint successful Europe, with narcotics claiming much than 100 lives connected mean each month.

The Scottish authorities is proposing to decriminalise the possession of drugs for idiosyncratic usage to "help and enactment radical alternatively than criminalise and stigmatise them".

But the UK government, which controls drugs policy, has rejected the program arsenic unsafe and says it has nary volition of giving the Scottish Parliament the powerfulness to enact the caller policy.

So what is decriminalisation - and would it work?

In setting retired their proposals, Scottish National Party (SNP) ministers cited Portugal, which relaxed its cause laws successful 2001, arsenic a imaginable model.

Despite having astir treble the colonisation of Scotland - 10.3 cardinal compared with 5.5 cardinal - Portugal has acold less cause deaths. There were just 74 successful 2021 compared with 1,330 successful Scotland, wherever the figures for 2022 are acceptable to beryllium published connected Tuesday.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) makes comparisons utilizing cause deaths of radical aged 15-64 years-old.

On that measure, National Records of Scotland says Scotland had 327 deaths per cardinal radical successful 2020, the astir caller twelvemonth for which the breakdown is available, portion the EMCDDA says Portugal had 9 deaths per million.

Statisticians accidental determination are immoderate methodological differences betwixt the 2 nations but the figures are broadly comparable.

Portugal's designer of decriminalisation, João Goulão, argues that adopting a akin argumentation successful Scotland could prevention lives.

"We are dealing with a wellness condition, with a disease, and we bash not criminalise different diseases," helium tells BBC News.

We conscionable Dr Goulão successful the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, astatine the General Directorate for Intervention connected Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies, wherever helium oversees nationalist drugs policy.

Globally, galore advocates of cause liberalisation praise the model which the erstwhile GP helped to design.

In Portugal, cause trafficking and dealing stay transgression offences. Possession of up to 10 days' proviso for idiosyncratic usage of immoderate drug, including heroin and cocaine, is not transgression - but it is not ineligible either and is dealt with arsenic an administrative matter.

If a idiosyncratic is detained, and if determination is nary grounds that they are supplying narcotics, the constabulary tin confiscate their drugs and notation them to a Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Use. This is simply a sheet usually made up of a ineligible expert, a wellness nonrecreational and a societal worker.

There is 1 committee for each of the country's 18 districts. Overseen by Portugal's health, alternatively than justice, ministry, they effort to found if a cause idiosyncratic is an occasional recreational user oregon idiosyncratic struggling with addiction.

The panels person a assortment of options disposable to them, including referring the idiosyncratic for attraction oregon counselling; levying fines for repetition appearances; imposing sanctions specified arsenic revoking a driving licence, a weapon licence, oregon the close to practise successful a licensed profession; and applying restrictions connected visiting definite places oregon associating with definite people.

However, successful astir 4 retired of 5 cases, aft a treatment with the idiosyncratic astir their cause use, nary enactment is taken.

In the past twelvemonth for which figures are available, 9 retired of 10 participants were antheral and 45% were aged betwixt 16 and 24.

The fig of radical appearing earlier the commissions roseate from 4,850 successful 2002 to 11,995 successful 2017 earlier falling backmost to 6,628 successful 2021.

The caput of the commissions, Nuno Capaz, says that reflects the changing complaint astatine which constabulary referred users, alternatively than a displacement successful cause use.

Dr Goulão says determination person been challenges with backing and recruitment of unit successful caller years which person made the occupation of the panels much difficult, but helium insists Portugal is successful a overmuch amended spot than it was earlier decriminalisation.

Then, helium says, the federation was successful the grip of heroin and HIV epidemics, with drugs deaths moving astatine astir 350 per year.

At 1 point, 1 per cent of the full colonisation — immoderate 100,000 radical — had utilized heroin, estimates Dr Goulão.

"It was hard to find a Portuguese household that had nary problems related to drugs," helium adds.

Illicit cause usage had exploded aft the overthrow, connected 25 April 1974, of the right-wing Estado Novo (New State) dictatorship, successful a peaceful coup which became known arsenic the Carnation Revolution.

The restoration of ideology saw a closed, blimpish and Catholic state rapidly opening up to the world.

It besides led to the instrumentality of tens of thousands of Portuguese soldiers who had been warring to clasp colonies successful Angola, Guinea-Bissau and Mozambique.

Luis Miguel Pereira recalls how, arsenic the troops came home, drugs flooded into the country.

He started utilizing astatine the property of 14, helium says. Nearly 4 decades later, helium is HIV-positive and remains hooked connected cocaine and heroin.

"I request it," helium says, simply.

As a child, Mr Pereira says, helium had a bully life, studying and playing football, "but erstwhile I commencement to instrumentality drugs, everything changes."

"It's similar a prison," helium says. "You are locked wrong of the drugs. You aftermath up reasoning drugs. You laic down reasoning drugs. It's the lone thought that you deliberation successful your mind."

By the precocious 1990s the left-wing authorities of António Guterres - who is present Secretary-General of the United Nations - had begun to instrumentality steps towards liberalisation. In November 2000, it passed law fig 30/2000, which enacted decriminalisation from 1 July 2001.

"The archetypal interaction was amazing," says Rui Moreira, who was moving a nightclub astatine the clip but is present the autarkic politician of Porto. "It was great."

"It was precise influential. We were giving them methadone. We were supplying them with aesculapian help. We started controlling HIV. We started distributing escaped syringes done pharmacies."

These days the astir evident embodiment of this 'harm reduction' attack are Portugal's 2 cause depletion rooms, 1 successful Porto which opened precisely 1 twelvemonth ago, the different successful Lisbon, which has been moving since 2021.

In the Porto centre, co-ordinator Diana Castro explains that nurses, a psychologist, a societal idiosyncratic and a doc are connected manus to assistance and counsel users.

In conscionable 9 months, she says, it has helped 1,600 people.

"Every time we are redeeming lives," she added.

The politician of Porto supports the installation and remains successful favour of decriminalisation, but helium tells america that helium besides has concerns.

Time, says Mr Moreira, has revealed immoderate nasty broadside effects of instrumentality 30/2000.

First, helium argues, it normalised unsafe cause usage among young people, entrenching transgression behaviour by those hopeless to provender their addiction and supporting profits for cause dealers.

And arsenic hard drugs began to suffer their stigma, users could adjacent beryllium seen shooting up extracurricular schools - wherever it was forbidden to advertise crystal pick oregon sweets, helium adds.

These broadside effects are not everywhere, by immoderate means. Many parts of this concern powerhouse turned tourer hotspot connected the Douro estuary are bright, cleanable and bustling with visitors.

But look for grounds of cause taking successful Portugal's 2nd city, and you tin surely find it.

Outside São Bento railway station, successful the historical centre of this Unesco World Heritage site, syringes prevarication discarded connected the cobbles.

A abbreviated thrust away, a radical of cause users, stripped to the waist, huddle successful the shadiness nether a nationalist stairway.

And successful Porto's noisy margins, nether the formation way of Francisco Sá Carneiro airport, the ambiance extracurricular the cause depletion country successful the neighbourhood of Pasteleira is edgy, arsenic Tony prepares to fume ace cocaine.

"I'm present each day," helium tells me, successful his autochthonal Portuguese.

Tony's aquiline features and grey curls lend him the aerial of a legislator successful Ancient Rome.

But fixed that Tony, 61, says helium has been taking drugs for 40 years, possibly his astir singular diagnostic is simply a beating heart.

"I lone bash coke," helium says but past adds: "I instrumentality methadone. And I lone instrumentality heroin erstwhile I tally retired of methadone."

"Even if the instrumentality decriminalises consumption… the constabulary are precise assertive with us," adds Tony.

"We're treated similar garbage. It's not fair."

Not agelong aft chatting to Tony extracurricular the facility, our usher tells america abruptly that we indispensable leave.

A look-out has seemingly summoned a much elder subordinate of a cause trafficking pack and Pasteleira is nary longer considered harmless for america oregon for those with us.

We instrumentality to the country a fewer hours later, accompanied by Porto's municipal constabulary chief, Superintendent Antonio da Silva. He takes america to a rabbit warren of a lodging scheme, its precocious walls crisscrossed by shaded alleyways.

A fewer months ago, says Mr da Silva, lasting present would not person been possible.

"This was a stronghold of cause dealing successful Porto," helium explains, describing it arsenic a "complete nightmare" afloat of dealers and users.

Faced with aggravated residents who felt trapped successful their ain homes, the nationalist constabulary moved successful and cleared retired the criminals.

Drug trafficking is simply a "big problem" successful Portugal says Commander Rui Mendes, caput of Porto CID astatine the nationalist constabulary force, which carried retired the operation.

"The postulation dealers are precise good organised," helium adds.

"You tin marque 500 arrests but sometimes I consciousness you tin bash a 1000 and it would beryllium the aforesaid due to the fact that the profits are excessively precocious for them," says Mr Mendes.

Mr da Silva supports decriminalisation but helium agrees that the combat is ne'er ending. Asked if the cognition successful Pasteleira simply pushed the occupation elsewhere, helium replies: "Definitely."

"We tin marque arrests," helium adds, but "the constabulary volition not lick the societal occupation of cause addiction."

The cause depletion country successful Lisbon, similar its counterpart successful Porto, is besides nether a noisy formation way connected the margins of the city, with cause users sheltering from the blazing prima beside a dual carriageway, hardly disposable successful shadows formed by factual and steel.

Roberta Reis, who runs it, agrees with Mr da Silva that decriminalisation has worked. "A past of success," is however she describes the policy.

Ms Reis says harm simplification has led to a autumn successful cases of hepatitis B and C, tuberculosis, and HIV.

"You tin amended radical to usage [drugs] successful a safer way," she adds.

This is simply a communal presumption here. Decriminalisation feels settled successful Portugal. There is nary mainstream telephone for the argumentation to beryllium reversed.

The politician of Porto, Rui Moreira, does privation changes though. As good arsenic improving housing, cleaning up nationalist spaces, and offering much opportunities for young people, helium is calling for criminalisation of cause usage successful definite areas, specified arsenic adjacent schools and civic centres.

There are limits to the comparisons betwixt Portugal and Scotland. No 2 countries are the same. Scotland has a peculiarly acute occupation with benzodiazepines.

The outgoing main constable of Police Scotland, Sir Iain Livingstone, precocious told Today connected BBC Radio 4, that officers had, successful effect, been operating a de facto decriminalisation policy.

"For galore years now, those that usage drugs and addicts person not been taxable to transgression sanctions," helium said.

"My greater concern," added Sir Iain, "rather than the decriminalisation of drugs, is really making definite there's capable enactment services."

On that constituent astatine slightest determination appears to beryllium immoderate agreement.

Antonio da Silva recalls being "absolutely shocked" by Scotland's decease rate.

"Scotland is by acold the worst… It's thing that should marque america deliberation astir what is going incorrect there," helium says.

"Must bash something," agrees João Goulão, though helium has a connection of caution for policymakers successful Edinburgh and London.

"Decriminalisation by itself gives you nothing," helium warns, "but each the wellness responses — treatment, harm simplification — are overmuch much businesslike wrong a decriminalised situation than they were before."