Portugal decriminalized drugs 25 years ago, but the real lesson is what it built around this policy

Portugal decriminalized personal drug possession in 2001, following a 1998 expert commission's recommendations after a heroin and HIV crisis in the 1990s. Possession now triggers referral to dissuasion commissions rather than criminal charges, while trafficking remains illegal; the country recorded 105 fatal overdoses in 2023, far below crisis-era levels, and injection-related HIV diagnoses fell from 583 in 2005 to just 19 in 2024.

By contrast, nearly 70,000 Americans died of overdoses in 2025, down from about 108,000 in 2022 but still dramatically higher than peer nations. The researchers note Portugal paired decriminalization with sustained investment in treatment, harm reduction, and services like housing and employment support, which more recent attempts elsewhere have struggled to replicate.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.