HOW THEY WORK (OR NOT) WORLDWIDE
COPENHAGEN, DENMARK
LAW CHANGED: 2012 WHAT THE LAW CHANGED TO:
Legislation allowed nurse-supervised drug use in centres with a safe zone (usually 200-300 metres and determined by the local planning authority) extending outside, where drug users are not arrested. Three Danish cities, including Copenhagen, now have these centres.
VERDICT: Mixed. Less drug paraphernalia is found on the streets, according to police, but critics say stopping addiction can only come with treatment, rather than by making heroin accessible.
AMSTERDAM, HOLLAND
LAW CHANGED: 1976, 1996, 2000 WHAT LAW CHANGED TO:
Cannabis was decriminalised in 1976. After that, the law has changed a number of times, incorporating drug-consumption rooms (DCRs). The latest ‘legal instruction’ allows addicts to take drugs under supervision in drug-consumption rooms but forbids selling or providing drugs onsite. Over half, 57%, of the centres have a nurse on site.
VERDICT: Negative. Local addicts benefit but the city has become an epicentre for international drug dealers and drug tourism due to the many DCRs and cannabis cafes.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA
LAW CHANGED: 2001 WHAT LAW CHANGED TO: An amendment to the Drugs
Misuse and Trafficking Act made it legal for drug taking at one medically supervised centre in the city’s red light district, where there was already a significant drug-using problem. Sales of drugs forbidden there. Local police take a lenient view of possession nearby the centre.
VERDICT: Mixed. Community response has been generally positive due to a decrease in needles littering the area – but it is located a long way away from Sydney’s Central Business District and in an area that is renowned for its seediness.
PORTUGAL
LAW CHANGED: 2001 WHAT LAW CHANGED TO: Possession of drugs for personal use was decriminalised. Police still search and seize drugs.
VERDICT: Mixed. HIV infections and drug-related deaths have decreased without a surge in drug-use but experts note decriminalisation was part of wider reforms making druguse a health not criminal issue and increased spending.