In the late 2000s and early 2010s, advocacy for the legalization of drugs in Latin America multiplied. At the forefront of the movement, the Uruguayan government announced plans in 2012 to legalize the sale of state-controlled marijuana to combat drug-related offenses. Some countries in this region have already made progress towards decriminalising personal consumption. There are also many individual parties dedicated to marijuana that are dedicated exclusively to the campaign for the legalization of cannabis. The legalization of drugs requires a return to the parameters of the Pure Food and Drugs Act before 1906, when almost all drugs were legal. This would require ending the government`s ban on the distribution or sale and personal use of some (or all) of the currently banned drugs. The proposed ideas range from full legalisation, which would completely eliminate all forms of state control, to various forms of regulated legalisation where drugs would be legally available but under a state-controlled system, which could mean, for example:[15] In the Australian Capital Territory, new laws came into force on 31 January 2020 following the passage of a law on 25 September 2019, which allowed the possession of up to 50 grams of dry matter. 150 grams of wet material and the cultivation of 2 plants per individual up to 4 plants per household, effectively legalizing the possession and cultivation of cannabis in the ACT. However, the sale and supply of cannabis and cannabis seeds is still illegal, so the impact of the laws is limited and the laws also contradict federal laws. It is also still illegal to smoke or use cannabis in a public place, to expose a child or adolescent to cannabis smoke, to store cannabis where children can reach it, to grow cannabis with hydroponic or artificial cultivation, to grow plants where they are accessible to the public, share or give cannabis to another person, to drive with cannabis in your system, or for people under the age of 18 to grow, possess or consume cannabis. [131] The personal possession and growth of small amounts of cannabis remains prohibited in any other jurisdiction in Australia for non-medical purposes. In Lisbon, Odette Ferreira, an experienced pharmacist and pioneering HIV researcher, launched an unofficial needle exchange programme to address the growing AIDS crisis. She has received death threats from drug traffickers and legal threats from politicians.

Ferreira – who is now 90 years old and still has enough ostentation to wear long false eyelashes and red leather at a lunchtime meeting – has started giving clean syringes to the middle of Europe`s largest open-air drug market in Lisbon`s Casal Ventoso neighborhood. She collected donations of clothes, soap, razors, condoms, fruit and sandwiches and distributed them to users. When the shopkeepers reacted with hostility, she replied, “Don`t play with me. You do your job, and I`ll do mine. Then she harassed the Portuguese Pharmacy Association to run the country`s first national needle exchange program – and even the world. The main argument is that the PDPM has not proven to be influential enough to rid drug use of the stigma it associates with crime or pathology when held captive. We conclude with a few proposals to be applied in practice. Are drugs legal in Portugal? No! If you`re visiting Portugal for a coffee experience in Amsterdam, think again. Although all prints in Portugal are decriminalized, this does NOT mean that they are legal. So what`s the difference between legalization and decriminalization? The legalization of drugs would mean that there is no legal prohibition behind narcotics. Adults could run to your local store and buy them, just like you would in Portugal with a pack of cigarettes.

On the other hand, decriminalisation in Portugal removes criminal sanctions against drug use. A person who is in possession of a drug of less than a certain amount will not be prosecuted. This does not mean that individuals will never be arrested for drug-related behavior. Although drug use is decriminalized, this does not apply to the sale of drugs. Here, the line between the two is sometimes blurred. Let`s talk about the law in the next section. The country is currently preparing a massive policy change in the fight against the use and possession of drugs for personal use. The reform, titled “From Punishment to Help,” was passed by the Norwegian government in 2017 and is now in the final stages of parliamentary approval. The changes must be implemented by early 2021. The new reform policy stresses that the criminalization of drug use has no significant impact on drug use rates and that drug addiction can be better managed by health services, hence the slogan “From punishment to help”.