The Minister of Health, Manuel Pisarodefended that on Monday “there has to be a lot of caution” in decriminalizing synthetic drugs so that a “good idea” does not distort the distinction between consumption and trade.
“I’m following with interest and in a positive way the theme of extending this decriminalization to synthetic drugs as well, but I think we have to be very careful about how this happens,” warned the ruler, in Serpa, Beja district.
Pizarro, speaking on the sidelines of the Open Health initiative, asked that “a good idea should not be abused” to make synthetic drugs “equivalent to all other addictive substances, interfering with the issue of the quantities each can possess and which distinguish traffic consumption”.
“It is useful not to add to the difficulties that the police and judicial authorities on the ground have in being able to do what they need to do, which is to distinguish between those who are consumers and who need to be helped to access healthcare system of those who are drug dealers and who should be repressed for committing a crime,” he said.
In his statements, the minister emphasized What Portugal decided in 2001 to decriminalize drug use, as it was “a pioneering measure on a global scale”.
“That is, distinguish between what should be suppressed, harshly suppressed, drug trafficking, and what should be treated, namely in the context of health, namely drug addiction and drug addiction,” he added.
On Tuesday, parliament will debate the decriminalization of synthetic drugsabout PS and PSD legislative initiativeswhich aim to equate new psychoactive substances with classic drugs, allowing the possession of small quantities for consumption.
In addition to the Minister of Health, the Minister of the Interior, José Luis Carneiro, also said in statements to RTP3 that consideration should be given. It’s about the amount of drugs each person can have in their possession without being considered trafficking.
The two bills propose to update the 1993 Decree-Law, which approves the legal regime applicable to the trafficking and use of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, to address situations of disparity between new psychoactive substances (NSP) and synthetic drugs and to differentiate between consumer dealers.
According to the European Drug Report 2022: Trends and Developments, nearly seven tonnes of synthetic drugs, substances sold for their psychoactive properties, but not covered by international drug conventions, were seized in 2020.
“There is also concern about the growing crossover between the markets for illicit drugs and new psychoactive substances. (…) These developments mean that consumers may be unknowingly exposed to potent substances that increase the risk of episodes of fatal or non-fatal ‘overdoses can increase.'” the report warns.
The same report indicated that by the end of 2021, the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction was monitoring about 880 new psychoactive substances, 52 of which were reported for the first time in Europe in 2021. By 2020, about 370 had been discovered on the market previously registered NSPs.
In 2020, EU member states accounted for 21,230 of the 41,100 NSP catches reported in the EU, Turkey and Norway, for a total of 5.1 of the 6.9 tonnes seized.
Source: DN
