So many proponents of decriminalization point to Portugal, but Portugal also put massive effort into the other infrastructures required to make addiction a health problem instead of a crime problem. Clinics, destigmatization through education, recovery programs, these are all needed for this to have been successful.
My wife is a nurse in BC, and she said in this hellish year, addicts were demanding a “space to use” right in the hospital. No additional security, no training on handling addiction, nothing.
Yes, this exactly.
So many proponents of decriminalization point to Portugal, but Portugal also put massive effort into the other infrastructures required to make addiction a health problem instead of a crime problem. Clinics, destigmatization through education, recovery programs, these are all needed for this to have been successful.
My wife is a nurse in BC, and she said in this hellish year, addicts were demanding a “space to use” right in the hospital. No additional security, no training on handling addiction, nothing.