Dr. Eamon Keenan:

Portugal is taking a very interesting approach. Some elements of the drug-related harm-reduction approach are impressive and they certainly warrant examination. However, to put it all down to a decision in 2001 to decriminalise drugs takes away from the fact that there has been major investment in treatment services in that country. The Portuguese national drug policy was published in 1999. It was amended in 2002 subsequent to the legislative change regarding the decriminalisation of drugs. It is now the case that if a person has a problem with drugs in Portugal, he can get access to treatment at an early stage. It is more than a question of one legislative change; it is an entire package of care. As Dr. McCarney has said, people can pick out certain research to suit their arguments. One of the major criticisms from inside Portugal in respect of the Cato report - the report that is most widely cited to show the benefits of Portugal's approach around decriminalisation - is to the effect that someone was brought in from America and stayed in the country for three weeks and then went back to America. He then wrote a report of 36 pages and got himself into The Economistand onto the front page of Timemagazine. The argument is that he did not really reflect the nuances of what was going on in Portugal at the time. It is very interesting and some elements of it are important and laudable, but we need to look at the evidence properly.