hi folkes. you know, i've been living in this country for 7 years now. and even i didn't realize that the consumption of drugs was not illegal, including in public. i thought it was tolerated, but not completely.
that explains why you don't really hear about the drugs policy in portugal. it's as if the government doesn't want everybody to know that you could shoot heroin in the park or on the beach or on the church steps at high noon and the cops can't arrest you. which i have seen, by the way. people shooting heroin in a neighbourhood park in broad daylight. i admit it was somewhat shocking to see. smoking dope is one thing, but heroin...não sei.
when you walk around lisboa, especially in the evening and at night, you will often see kids and full grown adults, burning hash in their hands, rolling joints and then smoking them without a care in the world. in places like bairro alto, it's the custom. it's as much a part of the culture as is fado, caldo verde and sagres. and during the festas de santo antonio, the streets are choked with smoke from churrasco, sardines and hashixe. quite the aroma.
recently i travelled to amsterdam, paris, london and toronto. i was actually somewhat surprised at how little drug use i saw. amsterdam being the exception of course, but they only smoke it in the coffee shops, never outdoors in public. not that it doesn't happen, but the dutch are pretty respectful of the law.
so the portuguese government and press don't much like to talk about it. maybe it's because portugal has turned into a drug haven and everybody is high? but according to this bbc report, not so. in fact, the opposite has happened, and other EU countries have followed portugal's lead and decriminalized drug use as well. personally, i think it's the right way to go, although i still think the goofy dutch have a better system.
not only have they decriminalized drug use, they've legalized and regulated the sale as well. and they make money off the taxes. which means the citizens of holland make money from selling drugs. the dutch are all drug dealers. now that's a civilized country.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/
dom cleo
"o estrangeiro"
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