U.S. Delegation Heads to Portugal to Learn from Countries Drug Decrim

“Portugal’s experiment in decriminalizing all drugs has reduced stigma and normalized harm reduction protocols, which has resulted in exceptional public health outcomes—and the reduction of people incarcerated for low-level drug law offenses. It demonstrates that there is another way to approach drug use in a society that is far more successful than the methods that the U.S. has advanced since the Nixon administration. Portugal measures success in the saving and quality of a person’s life, not simply by their abstinence or how much we can punish them,” said asha bandele, Senior Director of Grants, Partnerships and Special Projects at the Drug Policy Alliance. “If we can understand how to prevent overdose and new HIV infections from intravenous drug use; and if we begin to dismantle some of the architecture that drives prison and jail populations, we can begin to fully realize a nation whose public health and safety protocols are centered on human rights and justice.”

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Since its inception, TWB has been based in activism and the mobilization and movements for marijuana policy reform happening around the country. It was created for one purpose: to facilitate a constructive conversation about marijuana in America. This includes both medical and recreational marijuana policy, as well as the marijuana industry and culture.