In 2001, Portugal was the first in the world to implement a revolutionary drug policy that turned the table on the war on drugs and began to treat drug addicts as patients who needed help, not as criminals. Now, the policy is facing its biggest challenge yet. As the pandemic is limiting access to healthcare and rehabilitation, the organizations that support these marginalized individuals are concerned about an explosion in the number of people using their services as relapses increase and incomes diminish, especially in migrant communities. But the pandemic can also be seen as an opportunity, according to João Goulão, Portugal’s Drug Czar, as more and more “people are turning to replacement therapy and seeking help”.
This selection of photographs shows my initial exploration of this subject shadowing harm reduction teams, mobile consumption rooms and controlled drug burn by Portuguese police.
Previous work on the drug policy published in TIME:
https://time.com/longform/portugal-drug-use-decriminalization/
