Mr. Brian Galvin:

The question of whether decriminalisation works is difficult. I have spoken to colleagues in the general directorate for intervention on addictive behaviours and dependencies, SICAD, in Lisbon who have looked at this over recent years. The basic principle is that decriminalisation on its own has very little impact. There is no point in changing the law unless you put the services in place. Portugal was keen to do that. The other thing about Portugal is that it has a different police system from our police system. We have a community policing model. Portugal was coming from a post-authoritarian system, so people did not trust the police. While it depends on what indicator you look at, in the early days, there was a decrease in deaths. There is no question about that. In the past five or six years, it has become a bit more problematic.

As the chair alluded to, Portugal is having a closer look at its model to see how it can be improved. Oregon had a decriminalisation approach but did not have the kind of public health services we have in Europe so it did not achieve what it set out to achieve. I do not know if there is a direct link between the changed criminal status of drugs and the availability of drugs on the street. Nobody has really examined in that. Anybody who visits Lisbon can see an open drug-dealing scene. If that is connected to the change in the law in 2001, that has not been established yet. It could be part of the culture. It could just be the street life and culture of Lisbon.