(Re)criminalization of drug use

Clearing up some misunderstandingsBefore addressing the (re)criminalization of drug use, we must clarify the distorted (re)emergence of certain points in the legal and scientific fields, including public health.Firstly, no country has breached international agreements concerning international trafficking and the illicit nature of certain psychoactive substances, called drugs 1 .Observed changes in drug policies conserve these Treaties.In national State policies, such as Portugal, possession for personal consumption is not criminalized, but it is subject to psychosocial intervention and, in case of recidivism, to noncriminal sanctions 2,3 .Changes in drug policies that, in addition to possession for personal consumption, involve the nature of markets refer to national legislation.Changes regarding the rules of use and the market are restricted to Cannabis and derivatives.Such is the case of differing policies such as those of US states and policies adopted in Uruguay and the Netherlands.We intend not to discuss their specificities, only to underline that none violates international treaties, none is formally ratified by the respective national States, and should not be understood as a supposed broad drug "liberation" or specifically of cannabis.Although local laws differ from each other, they all include clear rules which can be consulted in articles and reports, such as between member States of the European Community 4 .Below we will discuss the paradigmatic cases of the US state of Oregon, the province of British Columbia in Canada, and Brazil

Criminalization · Criminology · Dynamics (music) · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Psychology

• A política de descriminalização de drogas em Portugal

  Open Access•Vera Lúcia Martins•Serviço Social & Sociedade•2013

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• Theorie des Kommunikativen Handelns

  Joseph R Berger, J Berger•Telos•1983

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