What Can We Learn From The Portuguese Decriminalization Of Illicit Drugs?

A new study (http://bjc.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/6/999.full.pdf+html ), published this month in the British Journal of Criminology shows that decriminalisation of all drugs in Portugal did not lead to increases in drug-related harms. The article, written by Dr Caitlin Hughes of the University of New South Wales and Professor Alex Stevens of the University of Kent, reports on the first independent, academic study to assess the effects of the Portuguese policy.