Cato @ Liberty » Brazil’s Drug Czar: Let’s Look at Portugal’s Experience with Decriminalization

Brazil’s Drug Czar: Let’s Look at Portugal’s Experience with Decriminalization

Posted By Ian Vasquez On January 12, 2011 @ 8:50 am In International Economics and Development,Law and Civil Liberties | Comments Disabled

In yesterday’s Brazilian daily, O Globo ^[1], Pedro Abramovay, the drug czar of the new Brazilian administration, said that Portugal’s experience with drug decriminalization ^[2] should be considered as an alternative to Brazil’s current anti-narcotics policy. This comes on top of Rio Governor Sergio Cabral’s ^[3] call for drug legalization and of former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s ^[4] criticism, along with other prominent Latin Americans, of drug prohibition. By officially weighing in on the side of harm reduction, Latin America’s giant can have a significant effect on the debate over this hemisphere’s drug war.

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URL to article: http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/brazil%e2%80%99s-drug-czar-let%e2%80%99s-look-at-portugal%e2%80%99s-experience-with-decriminalization/

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[1] O Globo: http://oglobo.globo.com/pais/mat/2011/01/10/drogas-novo-secretario-defende-fim-da-prisao-para-pequenos-traficantes-923470171.asp

[2] Portugal’s experience with drug decriminalization: http://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/greenwald_whitepaper.pdf

[3] Sergio Cabral’s: http://noticias.r7.com/rio-de-janeiro/noticias/sergio-cabral-sugere-a-legalizacao-da-maconha-20101206.html

[4] Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s: http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/latin-americans-are-fed-up-with-the-war-on-drugs/

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