What’s Not Working? The Criminalization of Addiction in the United States Compared to the Decriminalization of Addiction in Portugal
Open Access
- Author:
- Robinson, Sydney
- Area of Honors:
- Global and International Studies
- Degree:
- Bachelor of Humanities
- Document Type:
- Thesis
- Thesis Supervisors:
- Efraín Marimón, Thesis Supervisor
Krista Brune, Thesis Honors Advisor - Keywords:
- addiction
war on drugs
opioid epidemic
drug criminalization
drug decriminalization - Abstract:
- Addiction is a growing problem in the United States, which is worsened by the unsuccessful policy of criminalization where drug use is treated as a crime to be punished. Portugal may offer a solution, as it has been successful in mitigating addiction through the decriminalization of all drugs. Drugs are illegal in the country, but they are treated as an administrative offense instead of a criminal one. This paper analyzes the applicability of Portugal’s model to the United States which is dealing with increasing numbers of fatal overdoses. This paper first will provide a brief introduction on addiction, including its brain chemistry, the factors that contribute to it, and the difference between the drugs. Then, it will move on to the history of drug criminalization and its impact on current American policy. This includes the early history of drugs, drug laws, and addiction research. It also shares information on the racially motivated War on Drugs, and the differing public health response to the Opioid Epidemic which predominately affected white communities. It briefly traces the evolving status of marijuana legalization. Next, the paper will analyze Portugal's pioneering drug decriminalization model, introduced in 2000, within its historical, social and legal context. The paper then moves into the functions of decriminalization, and the judicial backlash that recriminalized possession of more than a ten-day personal use supply in 2012. Finally, it finds Portugal’s public health-oriented model as more successful in every measure of addressing addiction. At the end, a case study of Oregon’s brief experiment of decriminalization from 2022-2024 reveals the important qualities necessary for the success of decriminalization.