A former acting White House drug czar says the U.S. has a lot to learn from Portugal\u2019s move to decriminalize drugs and treat addiction as as a health issue through a harm reduction approach.<\/p>\n
Regina LaBelle, who held top positions in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) under the Obama and Biden administrations, wrote an op-ed that was published in The Hill on Wednesday, touting the success of Portugal\u2019s move to decriminalize drugs and arguing that the U.S. should take a lesson from the country.<\/p>\n
\u201cPortugal took a pioneering approach to its drug crisis and implemented a comprehensive public health-based drug policy approach,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThis included decriminalization of personal drug possession while maintaining criminal penalties for drug trafficking. At the time, Portugal faced a severe heroin addiction crisis and the highest rate of HIV infections in the European Union.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPortugal\u2019s approach to drug policy yielded positive results, including drug overdose death rates among the lowest in the European Union,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
While ONDCP under Biden has promoted the administration\u2019s efforts<\/a> to promote harm reduction policies and also cheered the president\u2019s directive<\/a> to review the scheduling status of marijuana, it hasn\u2019t supported calls to broadly decriminalize drugs. So it\u2019s notable that a former acting drug czar is putting the spotlight on the reform.<\/p>\n \u201cPortugal\u2019s experience demonstrates that a comprehensive public health approach to addiction, one that is consistently funded and supported, can yield positive outcomes and save lives,\u201d LaBelle, who notably did not publicly embrace drug decriminalization while serving in the federal government, said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Latest in The Hill \u2013 The US can learn from Portugal\u2019s drug policy experience https:\/\/t.co\/QYOa90LUzZ<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Regina LaBelle (@ReginaLabelle) July 12, 2023<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n She also responded to a recent story<\/a> published in The Washington Post that challenged the idea that Portugal\u2019s decriminalization model has been successful, drawing criticism from reform advocates who\u2019ve challenged the reporting.<\/p>\n LaBelle, who is currently director of the Addiction and Public Policy Initiative at Georgetown University Law Center\u2019s O\u2019Neill Institute, said that the report \u201conly serves to emphasize one of these lessons: Consistent funding is essential to sustained, long-term results.\u201d She then offered \u201cthree key lessons from Portugal that could benefit the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n The first is a common refrain from reform advocates, which is a call to treat addiction like a public health, rather than criminal legal, issue.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. has made some progress in recognizing substance use disorder as a disease and reforming drug policies; however, the emergence of fentanyl in the drug supply has rekindled a focus on criminalization as a response,\u201d she said, referencing increased legislative efforts to increase enforcement and penalties for possessing or selling the opioid.<\/p>\n The second lesson, LaBelle said, is to invest \u201csubstantial and consistent funding in public health services, including treatment and harm reduction\u201d such as syringe exchange programs to reduce the spread of disease.<\/p>\n \u201cThe U.S. has a unique opportunity right now, given opioid litigation proceeds and federal grants, to invest in long-term public health solutions,\u201d she wrote. \u201cA 2014 analysis found that $1 spent on treatment\u202fsaves more than $3 \u202fin crime reduction. However, long-term solutions require more than grants and short-term infusions of litigation proceeds.\u201d<\/p>\n The third lesson is to make \u201crobust financial investments to data collection and reporting\u201d so that the country can better understand what\u2019s working and what\u2019s not working as it addresses the overdose crisis.<\/p>\n \u201cBy embracing and staying committed to reform, the U.S. can enhance its response to the overdose crisis,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is time we take decisive steps toward a more compassionate and public health-centered approach to drug policy. One that addresses public safety concerns while prioritizing access to treatment and support for those affected by substance use. By doing so, we can improve outcomes and save lives.\u201d<\/p>\n While LaBelle was considered a top contender as President Joe Biden looked to fill the role of ONDCP director, the president ultimately picked Rahul Gupta, who previously chaired a state medical cannabis advisory board<\/a>.<\/p>\n Gupta hasn\u2019t directly commented on the idea of enacting decriminalization in the U.S., but he has promoted the administration\u2019s harm reduction efforts, which includes a review of safe drug consumption facilities<\/a> to mitigate overdose deaths.<\/p>\n Nora Volkow, the director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), meanwhile, said in 2021 that the ongoing policy of criminalizing people for drug use needs to be rethought, suggesting that the government should instead consider a policy of decriminalization<\/a>.<\/p>\n She also said that, when it comes to the war on drugs, there\u2019s no need for further research to prove that such criminalization has disproportionately impacted communities of color<\/a>.<\/p>\n In March, the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) officially backed the decriminalization of all drugs<\/a> and paraphernalia, earning the praise of drug reform and harm reduction advocates.<\/p>\n In February, the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), which has historically aligned itself with prohibitionists and resisted modest marijuana reforms,\u00a0called\u00a0for the decriminalization of all currently illicit drugs<\/a>\u00a0in the interest of public health and racial equity.<\/p>\n Another major medical group, the Minnesota Medical Association (MMA), also recently\u00a0endorsed broad drug decriminalization<\/a>, expungements for low-level possession and the promotion of statewide harm reduction programs.<\/p>\n Top GOP North Carolina Lawmaker Signals Medical Marijuana Bill Is Likely Dead For The Year<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n The post U.S. Can Learn From Portugal\u2019s \u2018Pioneering\u2019 Drug Decriminalization Law, Former Top White House Drug Official Says<\/a> appeared first on Marijuana Moment<\/a>.<\/p>\n
A former acting White House drug czar says the U.S. has a lot to learn from Portugal\u2019s move to decriminalize drugs and treat addiction as as a health issue through a harm reduction approach. Regina LaBelle, who held top positions in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) underContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":458,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,81],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":66709,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66708\/revisions\/66709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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\nRead More: U.S. Can Learn From Portugal\u2019s \u2018Pioneering\u2019 Drug Decriminalization Law, Former Top White House Drug Official Says<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"