Statement by the Portuguese Deputy Minister for Health. Vienna, 8 March 2010

Transcription

1 Statement by the Portuguese Deputy Minister for Health 53 nd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs Vienna, 8 March 2010 Mr. Chairman, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, First, I would like to congratulate you for chairing the 53 rd Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and welcome this year s thematic debate. Portugal fully subscribes the statement made by the Spanish delegation under this agenda item, on behalf of the European Union. Having just learned from the Executive Director of UNODC his planned departure from the office, I wish to join the Presidency of the European Union and, on behalf of my Government, commend the remarkable work he has accomplished at the head of UNODC. I also would like to wish him all the success for the future.

2 Mr Chairman, I would like to stress the importance of reliable and comparable drug related data that are the basis for a clear understanding of the situation and adoption of effective future measures. Portugal strongly believes in the exchange of evidence-based knowledge. Achievements in the area of drugs and drug addictions require strong political commitments and pragmatic solutions based on the available scientific evidence. This is why we are very much looking forward to the discussions which will take place during this year s thematic debate, hoping that it will be an interactive and fruitful debate, with a positive outcome. Mr. Chairman, allow me to share with you some relevant developments and trends of the Portuguese policy on drugs, which shows how Portugal adopted measures that allowed us to improve the understanding of drug addiction as a chronic but treatable multifactorial health disorder. As you might know, in 1999, the Portuguese Government approved the first National Strategy on Drugs, a historic turning point in the structuring of a global policy on drugs, by improving the quality and efficiency of responses to the serious problem of drugs and drug addiction. This Strategy follows a multidisciplinary and balanced approach, in which demand reduction plays a crucial role. One of the measures proposed by the Strategy was the decriminalization of consumption and possession for own use of all drugs in a quantity that can not exceed the necessary for an average individual consumption during a period of 10 days.

3 In 2001, a new Law entered into force, according to which the decriminalisation of consumption and possession for own use of substances is no longer a crime, but constitutes an administrative offence, no more sentenced to an imprisonment penalty. The main purpose in this Law is to prevent and reduce drugs use and to promote and protect drug users health and social wellbeing, encouraging treatment. When the new Law entered into force (in July 2001) the international community and institutions were quite curious about this innovative approach but in fact, by that time, we still had no results to share. Eight years after, the interest of the international community and press came back, namely due to the CATO Institute Report presented by Glenn Greenwald, but now we do have results to share with you. Mr. Chairman, before briefly refer some of these results, I would like to stress that we do not presume a direct link between these results and the decriminalisation itself. Decriminalisation was one of the elements of a comprehensive Strategy aiming at preventing drug use, facilitating access to counselling, treatment of dependency and rehabilitation and establishing effective measures to reduce adverse health and social consequences of drug abuse.

4 Allow me now to highlight 2 main positive developments: According to more recent national school surveys, the use of drugs that was increasing since the 1990 s, decreased for the first time in Studies indicate that between 2001 and 2006, a general decrease in the use of all illicit substances was verified in students aged 12 to 19. The second aspect is the decreasing in the percentage of drug users in the total number of notifications of HIV/AIDS. Concerning HIV infection and Hepatitis C in the treatment setting, there is also a tendency for a decrease in the number of positive cases. These encouraging results I have just mentioned are associated, amongst other factors, with the implementation of harm reduction measures, namely needle and syringe exchange programmes aiming at the prevention of HIV/AIDS, substitution treatment and outreach work. Another important aspect to mention, is that after the decriminalisation of drug use and possession there was not an increase in drug tourism, as some were affraid of. Mr. Chairman, I also would like to highlight that 2009 World Drug Report, presented last June by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, mentioned that Portugal s decriminalisation of drug usage in 2001 falls within the 1961 United Nations Convention, as drug possession is still prohibited, but the sanctions fall under the administrative law, not the criminal law.

5 Finally, Mr. Chairman, Portugal would like to assure that we remain committed to a balanced and integrated approach with regard to the world drug problem, giving due consideration to supply and demand reduction, enforcement activities and the promotion of public health. Thank you for your attention.