Parliament approved this Wednesday the decriminalization of synthetic drugs, distinguishing between trafficking and consumption of these new substances, with PSD and nine PS MPs abstaining in the final global vote.
The final text was submitted by the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms and Guarantees following the adoption of two SDP and PS bills, which were generally approved on 7 July.
Diploma received votes in favor of PS, IL, BE, PCP, PAN and Livre, against Chega and the abstentions of the PSD and socialist deputies Maria da Luz Rocinha, Carlos Bras, Rui Lage, Fatima Fonseca, Catarina Lobo, Maria Joao Castro, Thiago Barbosa Ribeiro , António Faria and Joaquim Barreto.
In a debate earlier this month, PSD and PS justified their diplomas on the decriminalization of synthetic drugs on the need to distinguish between traffickers and consumers, and also warned about the impact of these new substances on autonomous regions. .
“Twenty-seven years later, it is necessary to change the current legal framework to embrace this new and harsh reality,” said Social Democrat MP Sara Madruga da Costa, for whom the PSD diploma is intended to provide “a faster response and more effective response to this complex and a disturbing phenomenon,” especially affecting Madeira and the Azores.
According to the MP, the distinction between consumer and dealer is “fundamental” for combating the phenomenon of synthetic drugs by applying the same legal regime and the same principles of classic drugs to this new reality.
“This is what our initiative intends to do. Distinguish the consumer from the dealer, the crime of crime, with reference to daily doses, to treat those who need it, and to tighten the network of illegal traffic,” by comparing synthetic drugs with classic ones in the penitentiary system, noted Sara Madruga da Costa.
Claudia Santos, PS MP, stressed that 23 years ago a “historic decision” was taken to decriminalize possession of drugs for consumption in Portugal, but since 2009 the number of people convicted of consumption-related crimes has risen, contrary to the option made by Parliament.
“With this project, we want to confirm the option made for the prevention and treatment of consumers,” the PS MP justified, believing that the possession of drugs for consumption “should not be a crime and that the amount of drugs stored” should be just an indication for a person.
According to the deputy, the automatic operation of the criterion for the presence of drugs in a person, “to say whether there is a crime or not, is deeply unfair,” because it can lead to condemnation of consumers and impunity for traffickers.
Author: Portuguese
Source: CM Jornal
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