Does decriminalising drugs ever work?

The case for legalising marijuana is being made again by people who say the existing policy has failed.

There are plenty of people who disagree and who argue that if anything, the law and its enforcement should be toughened. Others argue for decriminalisation.

That's something they did in Portugal seventeen years ago. All illegal drugs, not just marijuana. Heroin and cocaine too.

Hugh Sykes reports from Portugal.

(Photo: Dr. Álvaro Pereira family doctor and pioneer of drug decriminalisation in Portugal
Credit: Hugh Sykes)