Bioethics in Faith and Practice, Volume 4, Number 1

32 Bioethics, the Law, and the Opioid Crisis In 2001, Portugal became the first European country to eliminate all criminal penalties for personal drug possession.. Researchers provided therapy to drug users rather than prison or jail sentences. 12 Researchers found that not only had use decreased in adolescents, but HIV infections and deaths related to heroin had also decreased by almost half. The number of people who were actively seeking treatment had doubled, showing their central goals of the decriminalization had been achieved. 13 These results can be attributed to Portugal’s renewed focus on harm reduction strategies in addition to widespread education about opioid use and its danger. In the late 1990s, Switzerland decided to stop trying to fight the use of drugs in their country, but rather to focus on the importance of caring for those who struggle with substance abuse. The country implemented legalized drug consumption rooms and heroin-assisted treatment facilities to attempt to make the use of drugs in the country safe. The number of opioid-related deaths in Switzerland has decreased by over 60 percent, and HIV infections also significantly dropped. 14 The Swiss government has a strong focus on allowing as many people into treatment in order to reduce harm as possible. How those forms of legislation would look in America What would it look like to implement similar rules and legalizations in the US? It’s clear that the United States is one of the worst cases of an opioid crisis in the world, and that the current methods being utilized are not functioning effectively enough to make a substantial difference. However, wouldn’t completely abolishing certain punishment levels from American justice system practice solve the problem? It’s true that decriminalizing illicit drugs in some European countries has helped to curb addiction and assist in 12 Caitlin Hughes & Alex Stevens, “The effects of the decriminalization of drug use in Portugal. Discussion paper.” The Beckley Foundation , Oxford (2007) 13 Glenn Greenwald, “Drug decriminalization in portugal: lessons for creating fair and successful drug policies,” CATO Institute (2009). 14 Addiction | Suisse “Addiction Suisse “Facts and Figures” Accessed 04/13/2019. https://faits- chiffres.addictionsuisse.ch/fr/opioides/consequences/injections-mortalite.html