Recently I blogged disparagingly about the open sale of drugs in Portugal .....
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| Algarve Plagued By Drug Peddlers |
.... well, how was I to know that the Portuguese government has totally abandoned fighting drug dealing?
Yes, in 2001, in a little publicised experiment, the Portuguese government decriminalised recreational drugs, including heroin and cocaine, in an attempt to reduce the number of hard drug users in the country.
The visible results? The invasion of drug dealers into tourist areas. The invisible results ..... well this news report discusses that. Whether this is going to succeed or fail is for the future to determine but its certainly a bold move.
I suspect that tourism to Portugal will start taking a hit as the vast majority of tourist don't want hashish, heroin, or cocaine peddled on the streets in front of their children, or to be constantly harassed themselves by drug dealers.
The dealers, whether of real or fake drugs, are actually a nuisance at best and a public danger at worst. Who really wants to be pestered every hundred feet or so by someone offering to sell you drugs, or wants their children to witness these transactions .... both of which happened to me in Albufeira?
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