How to massively improve heroin addiction problems without criminalizing people
In 2000 Portugal had a massive drug problem.
1% of the population was addicted to heroin.
They'd been trying to solve the problem the American way. Put people in jail. Shame and ostracize drug users.
Every year the problem got worse. Eventually it got so bad that the prime minister and the leader of the opposition decided to ask scientists how to solve the problem.
They gave the scientists the time and money they needed to figure it out. They agreed, in advance, to implement whatever they recommended.
The solution was radical environmental change.
First, they decriminalized all drugs from cannabis to crack.
Then they reallocated the money previously spent on incarceration to:
- Residential rehabilitation programs
- Psychological support program
- The big one was that the government tried to reintegrate people into society by agreeing to pay half of a convicted drug users salary for one year if you employ them.
- They also offered micro-loans to help people with addiction problems set up businesses about things they care about and be supported.
The message to drug users was clear.
We love you.
We value you.
We want you back.
The best assessment of what happened, conducted by the British journal of criminology, revealed this was the single largest drop in addiction related problems in the world. Ever.
A 50% fall in injecting drug use, 80% fall in
overdoses, 90% fall in HIV transmission among people with addiction problems.
One of the most telling ways we know it worked so well is that nobody wants to go back.
The takeaway here is that the effective and sustainable solutions for systemic problems involve radical environmental change.
The question for me in all this, is what will tech's Portugal look like?
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This came from episode 8 of a podcast called 'Your Undivided Attention'.