Thesis
A critical review comparing Portugal’s decriminalisation of illicit drugs and Australia’s drug policy strategies
Masters by Coursework, Murdoch University
2023
Abstract
Drug use has become increasingly prevalent. There are risks to taking drugs which can cause social, economic, and public safety concerns. Behaviours are altered, potentially endangering themselves and the people around them, possibly leading to criminal activities. To combat this, governments have produced frameworks and strategies to help shape the drug policies available to reduce the probability of drug use and the criminal behaviours associated with it. In Australia, the government had a legislative approach, while Portugal applied a humanistic approach. While both countries had the same goal of reducing the likelihood of illicit substance use and the societal and personal effects that come with it, they achieved it in two very different ways. Portugal implemented the decriminalisation of all illegal drugs with specific benchmarks. In contrast, Australia implemented drug policy strategies where it is up to the discretion of law enforcement to decide whether a user is criminally charged or not. Australia is still in the process of decriminalising some of the drugs to date.
This literature review analyses the statistics and available information retrieved from reliable resources, focusing on Australia and Portugal's drug policies. It has determined that the prevalence of drug use and criminal behaviour occurrence had similar trends, by which they had significantly decreased, regardless of the type of approach.
Details
- Title
- A critical review comparing Portugal’s decriminalisation of illicit drugs and Australia’s drug policy strategies
- Authors/Creators
- Michelle Fuene-Hetenyi
- Contributors
- John Coumbaros (Supervisor) - Murdoch University, School of Medical, Molecular and Forensic Sciences
- Awarding Institution
- Murdoch University; Masters by Coursework
- Identifiers
- 991005602252707891
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Medical, Molecular and Forensic Sciences
- Resource Type
- Thesis
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