January 12, 2011 7:50AM 

# Brazil’s Drug Czar: Let’s Look at Portugal’s Experience with Decriminalization 

By [Ian Vásquez](https://www.cato.org/people/ian-vasquez) 

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In yesterday’s Brazilian daily, *[O Globo](http://oglobo.globo.com/pais/mat/2011/01/10/drogas-novo-secretario-defende-fim-da-prisao-para-pequenos-traficantes-923470171.asp)*, Pedro Abramovay, the drug czar of the new Brazilian administration, said that [Portugal’s experience with drug decriminalization](https://www.cato.org/pubs/wtpapers/greenwald_whitepaper.pdf) should be considered as an alternative to Brazil’s current anti-narcotics policy. This comes on top of Rio Governor [Sergio Cabral’s](http://noticias.r7.com/rio-de-janeiro/noticias/sergio-cabral-sugere-a-legalizacao-da-maconha-20101206.html) call for drug legalization and of former President [Fernando Henrique Cardoso’s](https://www.cato.org/latin-americans-are-fed-up-with-the-war-on-drugs/) criticism, along with other prominent Latin Americans, of drug prohibition. By officially weighing in on the side of harm reduction, Latin America’s giant can have a significant effect on the debate over this hemisphere’s drug war.

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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