THE PORTUGUESE EXPERIMENT
Background
According to Gil Kerlikowske, the former Director of the National Drug Control Policy, “85 percent of all drug treatment research is conducted or funded in the United States.”
Following the end of the dictatorship in Portugal, Portuguese citizens indulged themselves in new freedoms they did not have during the authoritarian rule. One of these freedoms being drugs.
The outbreak went on with little intervention until about the 1990s when nearly 1% of the population had an addiction to heroin and other strong drugs making it the largest health concern at the time. By 1998 the government began to implement structures that would aid the people addicted to drugs and ultimately decrease or eliminate their usage.
THE RESULT
What can we as a country learn?
With this information, Gil Kerlikowske wanted to learn more about how other countries approach substance abuse and specifically opioid addiction, because the people working to end the opioid epidemic throughout the U.S. might be able to utilize some effective ways that other countries have handled this crisis.
One of the ways Portugal is approaching the opioid crisis alternatively from how the U.S. is approaching it, is the fact that in 1998 Portugal decided to stop arresting and imprisoning people who had their own recreational drugs. Instead they offered opportunities for addicts to receive treatment.
This has proved to be very effective for the country, as imprisoning people for an addiction that is difficult to control, is not as beneficial for the country cumulatively as it is to offer solutions and treatments to those victimized by addictions.
We cannot force people to stop using drugs by putting them in jail and giving them no preparation for the outside world after jail, but we can make a difference. Just as Portugal has, we can open doors by offering more affordable prescription treatment, like suboxone, and opportunities for victims of the opioid epidemic to seek help and lead a healthier lifestyle.