ID: HR19-1232

Presenting author: marta pinto

Presenting author biography:

Marta Pinto is a psychologist, professor and researcher at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of University of Porto. Has a strong experience in clinical and outreach intervention among people who use drugs and sex workers as well as in advocacy for human rights` protection.

The Portuguese drug policy model: a look from the inside

marta pinto, Luís Fernandes, Cristiana Vale Pires, Helena Carvalho, Helena Valente

The Portuguese Drug Policy Model has almost unanimously been recognised by its promising results both in public health, drug demand and drug supply reduction and even in economic terms. It is anchored in a decriminalisation framework for all psychoactive substances and it is grounded in a six pillar approach: dissuasion of drug misuse; prevention; treatment; social reinsertion; harm reduction and law enforcement. This paper will discuss in more detail its associated indicators; its particularities; the complex socio-sanitary network in which it is anchored; its potential and weaknesses, through the combination of data coming from scientific literature and the vivid experience of the authors as insiders. Insiders in the sense that for many years those have been some of the many social actors who interpret the model in a quotidian basis for science production and intervention in various outreach and/or clinical settings. A syntethic and critical point of view regarding a policy model seen as an example to follow is an important contribution in an historical moment when alternatives to the present global policies are being rehersed.