According to an article in Forbes:
Ten years ago, Portugal decriminalized all drugs. One decade after this unprecedented experiment, drug abuse is down by half. . . Currently 40,000 people in Portugal are being treated for drug abuse. This is a far cheaper, far more humane way to tackle the problem. Rather than locking up 100,000 criminals, the Portuguese are working to cure 40,000 patients and fine-tuning a whole new canon of drug treatment knowledge at the same time.
Two words come to mind: liberty and compassion. And it costs less!
Too bad so many Americans base their decisions on evidence-free beliefs. Whether they are Republican politicians who want to appear “tough on drugs” or “tough on crime” by legislating severe mandatory incarceration for drug possession, or religious zealots who deem drugs to be too sinful to rationally discuss, Americans seem destined to ignore the lesson taught by Portugal. Too many of us would rather build more prisons than more drug treatment facilities. The lost opportunity cost is staggering.