We are pleased to release a video prepared on the undergraduate dissertation of Tom Gordon (BSc Criminology and Sociology) on the interesting topic of whether drug use should be decriminalised and more specifically, what the UK can learn from Portuguese “health first” approach to tackling drug use.
In 1999, the Portuguese government approved the strategy to decriminalise personal drug use. The “health first” approach aims to deter future drug consumption and encourages the movement of regular drug users and addicts into treatment programmes.
Tom interviewed social workers, paramedics and other front-line workers who all encouraged a change in the UK’s national strategy on tackling drug use to reflect a more “health first” approach.
Watch the dissertation video in full below.