Lynn Ruane (Independent)
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I like the confidence with which Mr. Leitão da Silva speaks about the police force in Porto. Every time a concern is raised about the grey areas of policing and how you can follow that thread regarding whether someone is being used to carry drugs for a drug dealer under a certain model, Mr. Leitão da Silva keeps coming back to the point that this is an issue for policing. There is a confidence in Portugal that this is up to the police to figure out. Elsewhere there seems to be a doubling down of the belief that we need to criminalise the drug user so that policing can be done effectively. It removes the strength of a police force to be resourceful and intelligent and to be able to find ways to go after the things it is meant to go after - trafficking and the sale and supply of drugs - and it does not need to use the drug user to be able to carry out its police functions. I am hearing Mr. Leitão da Silva speak quite confidently about what is and is not a police issue.