For a long time Portugal has had a big problem. It is not rising seas or drought or dwindling cork crops, none of these things are nearly as bad as the drug problem that Portugal had. What was worse was the prevalence of AIDs amongst needle using drug addicts. Not sure what to do, with a health epidemic waiting to sweep into the rest of the EU, Portugal decided to start a drastically new drug policy. They were the first country in the world to tackle the drug problem by decriminalizing all drugs.
Effective in 2001, virtually all drugs including marijuana, cocaine, heroine and others were decriminalized. The punishment for using and possessing these drugs would no longer be long jail sentences that are damaging to the psyche of individuals and force users to go through extremely uncomfortable withdrawals. Instead, Portugal decided to try to reach out to these citizens and try to cure the underlying causes of addiction by offering therapy.

An AIDS Epidemic amongst Users

The AIDS levels among drug users were unprecedented in the EU and were mostly due to reuse of clean needles and lack of testing by users. Portugal decided to start offering clean needles to help stem the spread of AIDS. The program also seeks to substitute and control the dosage of opiates to help these people regain control of their vices and re-enter society as functional and healthy individuals.

The fines associated with possession of less than 10 days supply is similar to decriminalized infractions in places like Philadelphia. Portugal realized that those who go to prison for drug related crimes tend to go back to prison for drug related crimes. Instead of punishing the behavior, Portugal attempts to fix the behavior through therapy. It is a very human approach to dealing with these issues and shows a deeply compassionate focus to help their citizens instead of merely punish and process them.

Marijuana Distribution is Still Highly Illegal

These laws do not mean that there is a commercial market for these substances and law enforcement still fights the spreads of these drugs (less so marijuana than others.) However they did outlaw the purchase of cannabis seeds, and private cultivation remains illegal unlike in neighboring Spain. Unfortunately they will not be able to grow Green House Seed Co. seeds, but at least they will not suffer ridiculous penalties for possession and use.