Tag: glenn greenwald

New Study: ‘Drug Decriminalization in Portugal’

By
Cato Editors

On July 1, 2001, a nationwide law in Portugal took effect that decriminalized all drugs, including cocaine and heroin. Drug possession for personal use and drug usage itself are still legally prohibited, but violations of those prohibitions are deemed to be exclusively administrative violations and are removed completely from the criminal realm.

In a new study, constitutional lawyer and Salon.com writer Glenn Greenwald examines the Portuguese model and the data concerning drug-related trends in Portugal, and argues that, “judged by virtually every metric, the Portuguese decriminalization framework has been a resounding success.”

Greenwald will speak at the Cato Institute Friday, April 3, about the success of the decriminalization program.

[ipaper docId=13784156 access_key=key-1b7m6y33q9et1f73i1st height=600 width=500 /]

Topics: 
General, Law and Civil Liberties

Events This Week

By
Cato Editors

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

POLICY FORUM - Can the Market Provide Choice and Secure Health Coverage Even for High-Cost Illnesses?

12:00 PM (Luncheon to Follow)

In a study recently published by the Cato Institute, economist John Cochrane argues that the market can solve a huge piece of the health care puzzle: providing secure, life-long health insurance and a choice of health plans to even the sickest patients. The key, Cochrane explains, is to eliminate government policies that force the healthy to subsidize the sick, such as the tax preference for employer-sponsored coverage and other attempts to impose price controls on health insurance premiums.

Featuring John H. Cochrane, Myron S. Scholes Professor of Finance, University of Chicago Booth School of Business Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research; Bradley Herring, Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health; moderated by Michael F. Cannon, Director of Health Policy Studies, Cato Institute.

Please register to attend this event, or watch free online.

Friday, April 3, 2009

PglennOLICY FORUM - Drug Decriminalization in Portugal

12:00 PM (Luncheon to Follow)

In 2001, Portugal began a remarkable policy experiment, decriminalizing all drugs, including cocaine and heroin.

In a new paper for the Cato Institute, attorney and author Glenn Greenwald closely examines the Portugal experiment and concludes that the doomsayers were wrong. There is now a widespread consensus in Portugal that decriminalization has been a success. The debate in Portugal has shifted rather dramatically to minor adjustments in the existing arrangement. There is no real debate about whether drugs should once again be criminalized. Join us for a discussion about Glenn Greenwald’s field research in Portugal and what lessons his findings may hold for drug policies in other countries.

Featuring Glenn Greenwald, Attorney and Best-selling Author; with comments by Peter Reuter, Department of Criminology, University of Maryland; moderated by Tim Lynch, Director, Project on Criminal Justice, Cato Institute.

Please register to attend this event, or watch free online.

Topics: 
General

Jim Webb and Criminal Justice

By
Tim Lynch

Senator Jim Webb (D-Va) is calling for a national commission to review the American criminal justice system from top to bottom.    Good for him.  With more than seven million people under criminal justice supervision (prison, parole, probation), a thorough review is desperately needed.  You can tell that Webb is new to the Congress because he is raising a subject that most of the long term incumbents would rather not discuss.  As Glenn Greenwald observes:

For a Senator like Webb to spend his time trumpeting the evils of excessive prison rates, racial disparities in sentencing, the unjust effects of the Drug War, and disgustingly harsh conditions inside prisons is precisely the opposite of what every single political consultant would recommend that he do.  There’s just no plausible explanation for what Webb’s actions other than the fact that he’s engaged in the noblest and rarest of conduct:  advocating a position and pursuing an outcome because he actually believes in it and believes that, with reasoned argument, he can convince his fellow citizens to see the validity of his cause.  And he is doing this despite the fact that it potentially poses substantial risks to his political self-interest and offers almost no prospect for political reward.  Webb is far from perfect – he’s cast some truly bad votes since being elected – but, in this instance, not only his conduct but also his motives are highly commendable.

Read the whole thing.

And speaking of Glenn Greenwald, he will be here at Cato this Friday to discuss his new study for Cato, Drug Decriminalization in Portugal.  Portugal is treating drug use as a health problem, not a crime problem, and it is working rather well.  When Senator Webb’s commission gets assembled, this report ought to be at the top of  its reading list.

To register for the Greenwald forum, go here.  For a discussion on mass incarceration, go here.  For more Cato work on crime and drugs, go here and here.

Topics: 
Law and Civil Liberties

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