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The Compass: My Perfect Country: My Perfect Country: Drug Decriminalisation in Portugal

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My Perfect Country: Portugal

18/02/2016 GMT

My Perfect Country: Drug Decriminalisation in Portugal

My Perfect Country

BBC World Service - The Compass, My Perfect Country, My Perfect Country: Drug Decriminalisation in Portugal

Is Portugal's view of drugs as a health issue rather than a crime a good model to follow?

Is the key to drug control decriminalisation? Fi Glover, Henrietta Moore and two panellists inspect Portugal’s policy which sees drug users as patients rather than criminals.

In 2001 the use of all drugs was decriminalised meaning possession of drugs was now identified as a public health issue rather than a criminal offence. Today, whilst drugs remain illegal, users do not receive a criminal record and are instead referred to rehabilitation and treatment programmes. Drug related deaths, HIV infection rates and use of legal highs are at an all-time low.

My Perfect Country traces the development of the policy over the last 15 years and asks whether other countries should use this model for their own legislation on drug control. The architect of Portugal’s policy Joao Goulao explains how the policy was implemented and Doctor Rodrigo Coutinho explains how it was taken on by health services. Our roving ambassador hears from the volunteers of mobile units that does not wait for patients to come to them and hears emotional recovery stories from former users. Presenter Fi Glover, academic Henrietta Moore, professor Alex Stevens from Kent University andTony Duffin of the Ana Liffey drug project in Ireland discuss how far Portugal’s policy has been successful and whether it would work in the perfect country.

(Photo: A Portuguese flag flies above a demonstration against austerity, Lisbon, 2013. Credit: Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images)

The Compass: My Perfect Country

Fi Glover and digital guru Martha Lane Fox invite you to imagine your perfect country.

In a world where a lot is going wrong there is also a lot going right. Fi Glover and digital guru Martha Lane Fox invite you to imagine your perfect country.

In a world where a lot is going wrong there is also a lot going right. So what if you could build a country - with policies that actually worked? Fi Glover and digital guru Martha Lane Fox invite you to imagine your perfect country by homing in on policies from across the world that have been truly successful.

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