When Oregon was getting ready to vote on whether to decriminalize all drugs in 2020, I was covering the story for Vox.
During my interviews with the leaders of the decriminalization campaign, they often cited Portugal.
Even as Portugal ended prison time for drug possession, it created a unique system that pushed people to stop using drugs — sometimes with the continued threat of penalties, like the revocation of a person’s professional license.
Oregon didn’t plan to enact similarly tough penalties, and advocates for decriminalization did not have a clear explanation for why their law would work as well as Portugal’s.
Our conversations left me wondering whether Oregon could repeat Portugal’s successes if the decriminalization initiative passed.
Persons:
Vox
Locations:
Oregon, Portugal