“Dr. João Goulão, Portugal
Room Main Ballroom September 7th 8:30 am
Director-General of The General-Directorate for Intervention on Addictive Behaviours and Dependencies (SICAD) in Lisbon, Portugal
Presentation Description
The Portuguese Experience. New Approach to Drug Policy, It’s more than just decriminalization
The aim is to provide to the audience the historical context that led Portugal to the decision of decriminalizing drug use and possession for use; an overview on the responses developed as a result of the 1999 National Strategy on Drugs, which included this proposal among many others (the development of a network of services for prevention, treatment, harm reduction and social reintegration of people with drug related problems). Some results of those policies will be presented.
To clarify some myths still present around the so-called “Portuguese Model”; better explain that using drugs is still forbidden and punished in Portugal under administrative procedures, although it’s no longer considered a crime.
Learning Objectives
- To explain how a comprehensive set of policies was put in place in the last 16 years, and why it’s not possible to directly import models from other countries