Eli5: Why isn’t drug decriminalization working so well in Oregon like it did in Portugal?

Question

You often hear Portugal cited when arguing for drug decriminalization. I heard it’s been successful. Oregon on the other hand decriminalized drugs a year ago and overdoses have spiked 40% according to some statistics. Is drug decriminalization all that it’s made up to be? Why did it work on Portugal but not Oregon?

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Answer 1

Because “drug decriminalization” means different things in Portugal and Oregon.

In Portugal, “drug decriminalization” means that you *will still be arrested* for possession of small quantities of the drugs in question – but you will be sentenced to rehab. If you fail rehab, you still go to jail.

Portugal didn’t invent that style of drug policy – its how possession of small amounts of drugs works in the vast majority of the US *and how it has worked since the 1990s*. It is exceedingly rare for someone to go to jail for a first time drug offense in the US. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t happen and the internet is good at generating one off examples of very rare things occurring irl – but the fact is that it is very, very rare for someone in the US to get caught with small amounts of drugs and not be sentenced to rehab, even after multiple offenses. And, notably, the *exact same thing is true in Portugal as well* – people there do still end up in jail on a first time drug offense under certain conditions.

Oregon’s “drug decriminalization” means that you quite literally cannot be arrested for small quantities of drugs – being caught with <1g of heroin is the equivalent of a minor parking ticket. You can’t be sentenced to rehab and there’s basically no penalty for just ignoring the fine.

So to answer your question, despite the use of similar terminology, “drug decriminalization” means very different things in Portugal and Oregon to the point that you’re comparing an apple to an orange and wondering why they taste different.

Something to be aware of for legal issues in general is that legal terminology is often very specific to the jurisdiction that you’re in. One of the confusing issues in this is that Portugal technically does say you can’t be *arrested* for drug possession. Instead, you are “administratively detained”. But the practical effect of being administratively detained for drugs is the same as an “arrest” in the US, hence why I use the term arrest in this answer.