José Mourinho was an authentic trailblazer paving the way for a series of Portuguese coaches to be trusted and hired by many of the world’s biggest clubs While the likes of Leonardo Jardim in France and Jorge Jesus and Abel Ferreira in Brazil – to name just a few – have overseen memorable triumphs at their clubs it is in Portugal’s lower leagues that the “next Mourinhos” are currently honing their skills In the first of a series of interviews by James Rowe on football personalities with close links to the Portuguese game 33-year-old Tiago Mota talks about his fledgling career and his ambitions James Rowe: “You signed a deal to become manager of Clube Caçadores das Taipas ahead of the current season How are you looking forward to the challenge and how would you describe a club such as  Clube Caçadores das Taipas?” Tiago Mota: “They are a club based in Guimarães in Braga and they currently play in the Portuguese fourth division and it will be my first project on a men’s senior team I have previously coached youth teams at Rio Ave FC and Vitória SC Clube Caçadores das Taipas is a new challenge for me and I believe in this project and our goal is to improve the team the club and the players and also for me to improve as a manager and to strive to reach the next level I am aware of the realities and I will work hard and I will try to work just like at a professional club.” JR: “You spent four seasons coaching different youth teams at Rio Ave FC How do you look back on your time at the club and do you have any highlights or special memories?” in my case I did not work as a professional coach so I had to divide my time between my family friends and commitments at Rio Ave FC and sometimes it was difficult to manage this time but I received fantastic support from my family and friends and that made things easier In my new project as manager of a senior team we have goals and that will mean that I spend more time away from home but my support network of family and friends is fantastic so I am ready to start this new challenge Here in Portugal our reality is little different than in the UK Spain or France because if you want to be a professional in youth football you really need to coach in the three big clubs in SL Benfica FC Porto and Sporting CP and probably SC Braga and that is one of the reasons I chose to stop training youth teams and start to manage a senior team and try to get them promoted I was at Vitória SC last season and they have become the fifth club and I was not working in a professional capacity at the club.” JR: “You mentioned working one season at Vitória SC who have also made great progress in recent years playing in the Europa League group phase against Arsenal FC How do you look back on your time at the club and do you have any special memories or highlights?” I managed to help Vitória SC improve and I also improved as a coach and I know a lot of people at the club and it was also great for my CV I worked with a lot of quality coaches and players who have a lot of skills and I believe that in the coming years you will see some great players coming from Vitória SC and that we will talk about them because Vitória SC is one of the clubs that has really invested in their youth academy and they are a really well run club here in Portugal SC Braga and Vitória SC and for me it was a pleasure to work for them and it gave me more knowledge and know-how for me to work on my new project.” What is your opinion of the current Portuguese national team?” TM: “Of course all of the Portuguese people wanted a repeat of the success at Euro 2016 and that was our goal for Euro 2020 but of course we all know that other teams in the tournament prepared very well to play against Portugal I am not criticising our manager Fernando Santos but I believe we need to be and do much better at the next major international tournament We have many things to improve in future and we have players with a lot of quality but probably our game model and style of play in not conducive in my opinion in order to get the best out of the current squad of players and play well as a team.”  Do you have any particular dreams and ambitions for the remainder of your managerial career?” I do have dreams and on the other hand I have goals and I can combine both This coming season my goal is to improve the club and win promotion to the next division and this is our main goal and this is a competitive league with teams with great quality so we will need to be at our best in order to move up I want to be a professional football manager in the coming years and I also want to participate in the Taça de Portugal (Portuguese Cup) and in the Champions League and win a trophy at some point in my career The main goal of my career is to win a trophy I know that football is a savage world and it is very hard to be successful but I will control all the things that I can control and do my best and work hard and next season my wish is to talk to with you again James in a new interview with hopefully Clube Caçadores das Taipas at a new level of the Portuguese football pyramid.” FALL RIVER - After hitting rock bottom - with one in 10 people hooked on heroin and hundreds of thousands addicted to other types of drugs - Portugal decriminalized drugs 22 years ago and has seen dramatic drops in overdoses and drug-related crime and overdose deaths remain at crisis levels In 2022, a record 109,680 lives were lost to overdoses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) In Massachusetts, there were 2,357 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths in 2022 according to data released by the Department of Public Health The Ocean State experienced 434 accidental overdose deaths last year according to the Rhode Island Department of Health should the United States follow the Portuguese pioneering drug policy or at the very least try to apply some of the lessons learned there dozens of Massachusetts and Rhode Island lawmakers and health and law enforcement officials came together June 26 at a forum held at Bristol Community College to learn about the Portuguese experience in decriminalizing drug use and engage in discussion on ways to reduce opioid related fatalities The forum was organized by the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) of Lisbon in partnership with the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Opioids and Overdose the Principal Investigator of the NIH-funded Center on Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) for Opioids and Overdose at Miriam Hospital in Providence “We need everybody on board - law enforcement He emphasized that while Portugal has 10 times the population of Rhode Island it experienced six times less overdose deaths than the Ocean State “We have to look at what’s happening in Portugal and see how we can translate it to Rhode Island and Massachusetts,” he said “How can we do it today and not wait years for it to happen The forum’s keynote speaker was Dr. João Goulão, Portuguese Drugs and Alcohol National Coordinator. He was a member of the Portuguese Committee which, in 1999, prepared the report on which the first Portuguese Drug Strategy was based that included decriminalization proposal and paved the way for the change in the Portuguese drug policy. He was also Chairman of the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) from 2009 to 2015. Dr. Goulão said one common misconception is that Portugal legalized drugs. “We did not legalize drugs,” he stressed. “The use of drugs in Portugal is prohibited, including cannabis.” Instead of receiving jail time, drug users are sent to counseling and offered access to treatment if found in possession of any drug in amounts that would last the individual 10 or fewer days. If they exceed that quantity, then criminal procedures take place. In his view, a more humane and pragmatic approach to drug policy and addiction yields more positive outcomes. “It’s not the drug that matters; it’s the relationship with the drug,” he said. “What’s key is the way we address the problem. We need to address it in a humane way. We focus our policies on the citizens.” He said the Portuguese drug policy model has been successful because it’s cemented on a robust strategy across government, healthcare, law enforcement and community groups to effectively disrupt the chain of supply, provide intervention and treatment options and educate the public. “We’re dealing with a health and social issue rather than a criminal issue,” Dr. Goulão said. “Why put people in jail? Then you have people with a crime record, which is for life, and it stigmatizes.” He said statistics provide a clear picture on how the policy is working. In 1998, 350 lives were lost to overdoses in Portugal. According to the most recent data, there were 74 overdose deaths in 2021. While heroin was consumed by 1% of the Portuguese population in 1998, only 0.33% used it in 2021. HIV notifications also decreased from 56% to 3%. In 1998, there were 100,000 problematic users, while in 2021 that number fell to 33,200. “I am very proud of what we’ve achieved so far,” Dr. Goulão said. Psychiatrist Miguel Vasconcelos, coordinator of the addiction unit at Centro Taipas in Lisbon, provided an overview of the role of agencies for drug treatment in Portugal. He said they follow an integrated model of treatment, using evaluation, discussion, and intervention by a multidisciplinary team. Centro Taipas currently employs six psychiatrists, 13 psychologists, 12 nurses, four social workers, one physiotherapist, and one occupational therapist among other professionals. Each patient is assigned to a reference therapist and an individual therapeutic (TP) project is constructed with the client. The center has supervised drug consumption facilities, and in some cases methadone is dispensed. “It’s a client centered intervention, according to the TP established, integrating simultaneously or sequentially the different therapeutic modalities and the community resources,” he said, adding that challenges like housing, food, accessing education and behavioral health treatment need to be addressed in concert with substance use treatment in order to turn the tide on the drug crisis. After Dr. Vasconcelos’ presentation, Kristine Campagna, Associate Director at Rhode Island Department of Health, Division of Community Health and Equity, told O Jornal that being invited to hear what others are doing is “critical” in order to address the drug crisis in our local communities. “What I appreciated most is their interdisciplinary approach,” she said of the Portuguese drug policy model. “It’s critical to solve the problem together, and to treat people with respect and dignity. The work they are doing considers the whole person, mapping resources and equality of treatment.” Vaz acknowledged that at the time Portugal’s drug policy was approved many law enforcement officers viewed decriminalization with skepticism and fear that the drug use and trafficking would increase, and that Portugal would become a tourist destination for drug use. There’s been an increase in the amounts of drugs seized by authorities since 2001, but Vaz said that’s because law enforcement agents have more time to focus on intercepting large-scale trafficking rather than dealing with petty crimes and massive paperwork. “At present, 22 years later, given the results achieved and the social evolution witnessed, we believe that the overwhelming majority of the population and law enforcement officers consider that the solutions adopted in the wake of the first national strategy, including decriminalization, were the right ones,” he said. Public Security Police Superintendent Dário Prates painted a similar picture. He said that before 2000 the police would waste a lot of time on “useless” arrests because individuals would be released by the judge within 48 hours. Although it took some time to change the police mindset from the criminal to the non-criminal perspective, he said the outcome has been very positive. “Yes, it was worth it,” he said. “We’re now more focused on drug trafficking, and whenever we get a drug user, he is getting the help he needs.” Prates noted, however, that a 2007 Penal Law amendment, which allows police officers to conduct house searches without a warrant, has made all the difference for police officers. “Drug traffickers know the law, so they carry the allowed quantity,” he said. “So, now if I see someone on the street selling drugs, I can arrest him and go to his place and search it. This was really helpful.” Another thing that is extremely important is to set clear rules and quantity limits, he stressed. “The legislation must be very simple and very clear,” he said. “We, police officers, like things to be black and white because we’re dealing with human rights.” Dr. Miguel Moniz, an anthropologist at CRIA ISCTE/Instituto Universitário de Lisboa and the Executive Director of the Migrant Communities Project, which worked with COBRE to organize the forum, was the moderator of the law enforcement panel. He said he has been aware of the harm done to local immigrant communities by drug policy since working on the deportation issue in the 1990s. He pointed out most U.S. permanent residents deported to Portugal were repatriated due to crimes related to substance use disorder. Had these individuals received treatment and not criminal records, they would have been allowed to stay in the U.S. and build back their lives, he said. “It’s very important to get law enforcement in these conversations,” he said. “Oftentimes when we talk about drug policy, law enforcement is somewhat an afterthought.” Bridgewater Chief Police Christopher D. Delmonte, a graduate of the 255th Session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va., and a member of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association (MCOPA) Executive Board, said there are some similarities between here and what’s taking place in Portugal. “We currently in law enforcement do subscribe to some of those strategies, particularly when it comes to our association with substance abuse programs and how we are doing intervention strategies, meaning we are visiting with people that are suffering from addiction and we have recovery coaches,” he told O Jornal. “These are strategies that were foreign to law enforcement many years ago. So, today there are things that we are doing that are very similar to that.” But there are also contradictions, such as police officers being able to conduct house searches without a warrant, he added. “Those are things that are going to be problematic here for constitutional reasons,” said Chief Delmonte. “But I also think there are some good points and things that we should evaluate.” Acknowledging there’s no quick answer, Chief Delmonte said the word that resonated with him was coordination amongst all the services.  “It requires a lot of coordination amongst the social service agencies and amongst law enforcement,” he said. “There are prevention strategies, reduction strategies and treatment strategies. So, it’s not as simple as just decriminalization. You’ve got to look at all those issues as well, and they all require improvement.” He pinpointed the United States faces some different risks and threats than Portugal, which so far has not been significantly affected by fentanyl consumption. “We have to take those things into consideration, but that doesn’t mean you can’t pick a few pieces of it that has some value and things like that wouldn’t be helpful to our communities,” he said. Massachusetts State Representative David Vieira (R-Falmouth), who helped spearhead this forum, said his goal was to “bring folks together to change the dialogue.” “First to understand that Portugal did not legalize drugs and to look at the details of this policy,” he said. “The second part is to build relationships with those that have gone through this journey in Portugal. Here in Massachusetts, just last week, we saw the highest opioid related fatality numbers since this epidemic started. Clearly throwing more money and doing more of the same is not getting us any different results.” Rep. Vieira said everyone should be looking at implementing a coordinated strategy. “My concern is that we’ll look at one piece of it,” he said. “We’ll either look at decriminalization or at safe injection sites. In order for us to make a dent in this, I believe we have to have a comprehensive policy and strategy.” Since the United States has a federal system, there probably will be more conversations such as this one in the future. “We’re having this dialogue now with Rhode Island and Massachusetts, as sovereign states, which still fall under our federal drug policy,” he said. “I think that this potentially is the first step to having a federal conversation about this experience and rising this level to national policy discussion. I’m hoping we can get there.” as the debt-laden country weathered more painful austerity measures after an international bailout and sunk into its worst recession since the 1970s.As tax hikes gnawed into the grocery business he runs with his wife and the stress mounted the 30-year-old is glad he can fall back on the free state-run centre for drug addicts where he says few signs of austerity are visible yet."The business was bad I took to heroin again to forget," he says "But I knew heroin was going to destroy me So I rushed to the centre and they gave me another chance."Portugal's famously liberal drug policy has been held up as a model for other countries - Norway is considering adopting parts of it and countries as far afield as Argentina have expressed interest But experts warn that budget cuts and the threat of more cuts to come - combined with an increase in hard drug abuse - risk turning it into a shadow of its former self."We have a certain responsibility to maintain the essential despite the recession," said Joao Goulao "Other countries do look at us and seek our expertise then one day we'll have to talk about the Portuguese drugs policy in the past tense."Ageing but spacious and well-kept Lisbon's Taipas rehabilitation clinic is one of over 40 such clinics across the country the result of Portugal's 11-year-old pioneering drugs policy which decriminalized drug use while offering free treatment and state-funded street-work programs.It is places like this that are likely to bear the brunt of future cuts."We've already suffered some budget cuts but maintained the essential intervention services Now the budget for next year is prepared and .. I'm afraid it is inevitable that there will be more cuts," said Goulao.Meanwhile the share of injecting drug users who sought help via the agency's centers doubled last year to 14 percent and looks set to rise further though it still remains well below the peak of 36 percent registered in 2000."We see more drug use linked to desperation - mostly heroin "There's no doubt the economic and social conditions are making the drug phenomenon worse."Unemployment is at a record high of over 15 percent and many people are leading precarious existences Eurostat said one fourth of Portugal's 10 million population was at risk of poverty and social exclusion in 2010 the last year for which data is available - since then who is also the chairman of the Lisbon-based EU drugs agency EMCDDA said the euro zone's most crisis-hit member Greece has already shown that excessive budget cuts cause a sharp rise in drug use and AIDS infections.In Portugal's case he says the risks are even greater.PATIENTS Portugal decriminalized all drug use as well as possession for personal use in an attempt to try and tackle a serious heroin problem that had caused an outbreak of HIV/Aids among drug users Huge open-air drug markets were a common sight at the time in some areas.Since then the rate of injected drug use has halved to about 0.5 percent of the population The number of new HIV cases has also declined - the share of injecting drug users fell from about half of all new cases in 2002 to 17.5 percent last year.Overall drug use in Portugal is now below the European average Drug busts by police have also gone up."A very big measure of success of the policy is that it brought political acceptance The new centre-right government includes people who used to be very opposed to it but no one is trying to reverse it," said Brendan Hughes an EMCDDA analyst."There is no simple answer if the decriminalization itself is a success or failure But most of the numbers are going in the right direction," he said.The law treats users like Alves as voluntary patients not criminals are not processed through the justice system but are referred to medical "dissuasion commissions" instead.The legislation is among the world's most liberal where people caught in possession of drugs other than cannabis can go to jail.Goulao says decriminalization - which allows the police to focus more on drug dealers and unclogs the justice system - is "no magic bullet" but that it works when combined with state-funded treatment and prevention.Heroin use typically takes off during times of economic hardship and replaces "power drugs" such as cocaine because it is relatively cheap and gives users a few hours of emotional comfort.Mostly injected it can spread blood-borne diseases such as HIV or hepatitis when users share the same syringe or needle - behavior that becomes more common when money is tight."It's easy to buy "Pushers dilute it with talc and dust but it still works."DRUG AGENCY MERGER CRITICISEDSome experts believe the drug treatment program has already been weakened after Goulao's autonomous IDT agency and its 1,700 staff was merged with the country's National Health Service as part of the government's cost-cutting process."It was the worst possible moment to do it due to the budget cuts that all the healthcare service suffered," said Joao Semedo deputy chairman of parliament's healthcare committee from the opposition Left Bloc.The health service lost almost 10 percent of its budget funds in 2012."This integration amid the crisis and with healthcare in a shambles can only yield bad results (and) the end of financing for projects with a high social impact," said Semedo.APDES a non-governmental agency for social projects warned in a report earlier this year that a range of harm reduction service providers were facing bankruptcy while the "IDT closure endangers the future of the drug treatment system in general".Risk-reduction mobile units distribute free needles condoms and carry out medical exams in problematic neighborhoods.Marta Pinto says most drug-related projects have since survived and that tenders have been opened to guarantee financing of the projects until December but says the situation remains shaky."After December I don't know what's going to happen and obviously I'm worried," she said.In a further blow the funding of risk reduction projects from the national program for HIV/Aids - projects closely linked to drug-related work - has been slashed to 1.5 million euros from 9 million euros a year earlier with no guarantees that existing projects will continue said that even the Greek government is slowly reinstating prevention programs because it had been scared by last year's 12-fold jump in HIV infections among drug users."There is a lesson there The government will think twice now before cutting further in this area," he said "Such spending has to be countercyclical not when your economy is growing."Editing by Andrew Osborn Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved people whose bodies have been ravaged by drugs are trying to put their lives back together They've formed two lines and laugh as they take turns throwing a ball to their partners Drug addicts who've forgotten how to have fun are being given a lesson in how to play again "They're surprised at the feeling of feeling good at being capable of this," says physiotherapist Leonor Madereira who supervises this work at the Taipas rehabilitation clinic Taipas is one of 40 such publicly funded facilities across Portugal treating more than 4,000 addicts free of charge several patients taking an art therapy class are making ceramics The clinic's walls are lined with their creations angry souls struggling to escape their bodies a 46-year-old recovering heroin addict who paints as part of a small group "Criminal people are not accepted in society Portugal was once Europe's worst country for drug misery and deaths it’s a public-health success story with a system that's been copied by its European neighbours the public health physician who has received much of the credit for helping turn the situation around “It was devastating our people," Goulao said It was very similar to the situation in Vancouver now where city morgues are regularly filled to capacity from opioid overdoses and a mobile hospital emergency ward was set up to relieve the burden on overworked first responders in the city's drug-ravaged Downtown Eastside In Lisbon, the culprit was heroin. Today, across Canada, it’s the even more powerful opioid fentanyl and carfentanil — packing up to 100 times the punch of fentanyl The drugs are believed to have caused an unprecedented number of fatal overdoses across Canada last year, including 922 deaths in B.C. Goulao’s revolutionary recommendation for Portugal was to remove the criminal penalties for all drug use — in other words It would be combined with an intense focus on harm reduction the number of addicts was halved and overdose deaths had dropped to just 30 a year for the entire country Europe’s drug-monitoring agency says Portugal’s mortality rate from drugs is now more than four times lower than the European average Goulao says 90 per cent of public money spent fighting drugs in Portugal is channeled toward those health-care goals — just 10 per cent is spent on police enforcement there's an absence of data on how the spending breaks down but a 2008 report in the International Journal of Drug Policy suggests nearly the opposite happens with up to 70 per cent of money spent combating drug use going to enforcement One of Portugal's most important innovations has been its network of "dissuasion commissions." Anyone caught with a “personal” amount of drugs — up to 10 days’ worth of a substance — can be ordered to appear before a health department official like Nuno Capaz He's the sociologist who heads up the Lisbon commission ‘How many fines am I going to apply?’ So it’s easy to focus on the health issues and the help we can provide," Capaz said There are no gowns or gavels in the commission’s bare-bones office and police and prosecutors aren't involved the commission's function is to identify potential problem drug users early on and either provide them with information about treatment or quickly get them access to the health-care system 'The best cases are the ones that don't show up again.' In the case of a 25-year-old man named Bruno his penalty for possessing a small amount of hashish was a meeting with Capaz and another health worker followed by the offer of some information about addiction services we would be obliged to go to the court and court expenses are far more expensive," the young man told CBC News Capaz says measuring the success of such meetings isn’t easy "The best cases are the ones that don't show up again," he said Canada has developed harm-reduction policies such as needle exchanges and safe injection sites set up a central agency to co-ordinate its response nationwide Cities such as Vancouver have had outreach programs for drug users for years whereas other places offer little in the way of services every health district in the country has outreach teams that visit addicts every day and get to know their stories and needs Catarina Branco and Marta Correia as they visited a derelict former industrial area of east Lisbon to hand-deliver supplies "I think our work makes a big difference," said Correia a recent graduate from a university psychology program "Many of them wouldn't go to treatment if it wasn't for us." Hard drug use is mainly limited to derelict parts of Lisbon but there used to be open drug use on city streets much like in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction estimates Portugal had between 27,000 and 34,000 high-risk opioid users in 2012 and roughly half of them were involved in some type of treatment program That suggests a far higher take-up rate than in Canada A 2012 report from the Canadian Community Health Survey found only a fraction of Canadians with substance abuse problems were accessing publicly funded treatment programs Among those waiting for supplies from the outreach workers in Lisbon was a man named Pedro "Their job is very important and they are very brave," he said of the young outreach workers who risk being pricked by dozens of discarded needles as they make their rounds in neighbourhoods of homeless people He told us he's familiar with Canada's opioid problem from the news "I know there are lots of drugs in the alleys," he said of Vancouver Hard drugs are still widely available in Portugal although officials say drug use has sharply declined since decriminalization While Lisbon still has places users frequent to buy and use drugs the open drug market that once characterized parts of the city is gone And the worst neighbourhoods that had the highest death rates no longer see many drug fatalities has struggled to reduce overdose deaths for more than 20 years Don MacPherson of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition and one of Canada’s best-known harm-reduction advocates the number of overdose deaths rarely dipped below 300 a year “That line [overdose deaths] is supposed to be going down and down “We couldn’t get that line to go down and now it’s way back up again.” Methadone is one of the most important tools in the battle against opioid addiction in Portugal A heroin substitute that’s also widely used in Canada it satisfies the craving without producing the high it’s delivered to thousands of users in the places where they live and work via one of two mobile vans driving through the city’s narrow cobblestone streets and parking at five different locations Within minutes of pulling up at the Lumiar stop in central Lisbon each waiting for a cup with a five milligram daily dose a 40-something father of two who came on his lunch break The mobile van program means "I can have a job methadone treatment can make the cravings stop after several months said some addicts have been making visits every day for more than a decade "This was started to help those people who are marginal," Faria said these people wouldn't go anywhere to be treated.” budget cuts are threatening the future of Portugal's addiction treatment system Europe's financial crisis in 2009 took a heavy toll on the country As part of the austerity measures that followed the government eliminated the central agency responsible for co-ordinating the country's drug treatment program Among the other causalities was a program that placed recovering addicts in job training rehab provider Dianova used to employ up to 14 addicts and former users in its flower greenhouses Manager Rui Martins worries Portugal risks giving up the gains it has made "We know that only treating people is not enough … The de-motivation that comes after treatment from not having those opportunities might lead them again to start using," Martins said harm reduction policies have been implemented against a backdrop of legal uncertainty Some police forces — including Vancouver’s — rarely arrest addicts for possessing drugs but it’s ad hoc Any decision to universally decriminalize or legalize drugs — such as what’s happening now with marijuana — rests with the federal government A prescription heroin program supplies roughly 100 addicts in Vancouver but difficulties in obtaining the drug — along with the high cost — make it a questionable longer-term solution for addiction says Portugal's lesson for the world is that broadly removing criminal sanctions from drug use can be the catalyst to change public attitudes about drug use and users “The Portuguese were clear they needed a health response.” Drug addiction is treated like any other disease within Portugal's universal health-care system A crucial unknown about the Portuguese model is how it would handle a crisis such as fentanyl The drug has ravaged other European countries such as Estonia and to a lesser extent Germany but Portuguese police say it has yet to turn up there in a significant way MacPherson argues Portugal’s long-standing treatment practices and harm-reduction policies would allow the country to mitigate the damage should fentanyl start appearing on the street “The innovations in drug policy have grown out of disasters,” MacPherson said so the response is going to be different everywhere [Portugal] would be in a very good position to deal with fentanyl," he said "because they have a very coherent response." 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Porto Portuguese footwear is selling well and deserves to If you don’t believe it drop into The Feeting Room a shop that stocks various Portuguese brands such as Lemon Jelly There are shoes for all feet (that’s to say women and children) as well as accessories clothes and a café on the first floor with craft café and Brazilian-style brigadeiro chocolate-caramel bonbons Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon! instagramAbout us Contact us I grew up in Portugal in the 1990s and witnessed first-hand how a change in political will was able to curb the country’s drug problem all it took was looking at drug addiction as a health rather than a moral crisis my grandmother used to tell me to avert my eyes from a certain café we walked past on our way to church she would say – and the words filled me with terror Portugal in the 1990s seemed irretrievably plagued with ‘drug addicts’ jumped out of the dark asking to park our cars in return for money broke into our homes for everything but the kitchen sink and collapsed stupefied in our parks and public squares The news was filled with stories of citizens robbed at ‘syringe-point’ or threatened with AIDS or hepatitis by delinquents looking to turn our hard-earned cash into another hit The Boogey Man of my childhood was a drug addict The truth, of course, was that the café my grandmother warned me about was merely a cheap place where young adults congregated for a beer at the end of the day. But by the last 1990s, there were around 130,000 people consuming heroin and other hard drugs in Portugal Portugal had a severe problem on its hands the Portuguese government brought in an extensive programme to tackle the crisis This included significant investment in drug treatment and healthcare infrastructure consuming or in possession of an illicit substance within the thresholds defined in law for personal use now faces a ‘dissuasion programme’ instead of a criminal record The programme works by referring individuals to their local ‘Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction’ – a panel made up of health the primary aim of which is to educate users on the dangers of drug consumption Repeat offenders might be liable to pay a fine or do community service Problematic cases are often further referred to counselling and treatment facilities The measures also included the social rehabilitation of many of the neighbourhoods formerly rife with hard drugs the distribution and use of hard drugs is often embedded within the poorest and most vulnerable communities National and local authorities throughout the 2000s targeted these neighbourhoods demolishing illegal infrastructure and replacing it with social housing And while many of the social problems in these communities remain the main threat many of these communities face is gentrification the Aleixo neighbourhood was flattened and its residents displaced The area is now empty and has caught the eye of property speculators Aleixo might be associated not with Portugal’s heroin epidemic In the neighbourhood that replaced Casal Ventoso, a one-time slum in central Lisbon, the last of the 2000s promises has finally become a reality. 20 years later, the first fixed, safe consumption space has now opened to the public It assists up to 120 users a day and currently has 762 enrolled patients Most are smokers of hard drugs (like heroin or crack cocaine) Patients only bring drugs they will consume there and then to the space and must adhere to thresholds set by law for “personal use” – 1g in the case of heroin and crack cocaine users are given kits to meet their needs: from syringes Staff come to know the patients and their consumption habits in order to prevent potential overdoses Addiction is compared to diabetes or other chronic conditions – an illness that mustn’t be stigmatised While experts are quick to note that we can’t draw a simple “causal link between decriminalisation by itself and the positive tendencies we’ve seen” it’s also true that improvements are visible The sight of discarded needles in public spaces is now such a distant memory – most Lisboners under the age of 30 I speak to about it look back at me aghast Both drug use and drug-related deaths are now well below the EU average as young people in Portugal (most of whom were born after drug decriminalisation) have one of the lowest usage rates in Europe is how the stigma surrounding drug use has shifted in the last two decades The drug addict is no longer depicted as the dangerous delinquent my grandmother feared but as someone with a health condition – serious It is hard to explain what such a shift does to a society and its consumption of narcotics But one thing is for sure: the removal of shame from the equation has given many addicts the encouragement they’ve needed to seek treatment and rebuild their lives If the point of drug policies is to alleviate the burden addiction places on the state and on the taxpayer decriminalisation in Portugal has been a raging success The Portuguese left campaigned relentlessly for the decriminalisation of drug consumption and continues to argue for the legalisation of light drugs such as cannabis led by the now UN general secretary António Guterres that commissioned a report on the drug crisis in Portugal and subsequently proposed the decriminalisation law And while the bill passed in parliament primarily with the support of the centre-left and left benches the positive outcomes have generated such political consensus on the subject that in 20 years few politicians have attempted to touch it So it was truly repugnant that when Britain’s Tory government boldly announced a regressive drug strategy this week Keir Starmer suggested looking at the plans as if to beef them up with his legal expertise And Labour’s new shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper went further The attitude isn’t new for the Labour leadership When earlier this year Scotland implemented the de facto decriminalisation of personal drug use Starmer was quick to distance himself from the move Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has signed calls for drug policy reform as has Green party MP Caroline Lucas and Labour backbencher John McDonnell This approach by the opposition raises serious questions over how long it will take to see drug reform in England how many more lives will be shattered and lost in the Tories’ ‘war on drugs’ Our supporters keep us entirely free to access We don’t have any ad 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Or sign-in if you have an account Portugal was in the throes of a national crisis averaging 360 drug overdose deaths a year in a country of 10 million it has one of Europe’s lowest rates of drug alcohol and tobacco use and the number of overdose deaths in 2016 was 26 Vancouver Sun columnist Daphne Bramham looks at the lessons to be learned from the country’s radical approach to addiction treatment Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience Portugal — The moat is long gone and so is the family of the 1st Marquis of Alegrete who built Quinta das Lapas more than two centuries ago We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.Play VideoArticle contentSunriseStart your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. the manor’s residents are recovering substance users They live in dorm-style rooms built behind the main house But they have full access to the expansive gardens it’s in a picturesque village with both old-fashioned and modern windmills towering over the winding streets “I felt loved here,” said 63-year-old Jorge Faustino He’d only recently completed six months here at the Quinta das Lapas community when we spoke and was in the third and final stage of his treatment — re-integration into the community by working at a restaurant job that the staff had helped him find Faustino had been a heroin addict in the 1990s and then relapsed after 20 years of abstinence He’d been walking by the place where he used to use drugs and thought he’d try it just one more time Faustino left Quinta das Lapas after two months in treatment Quinta das Lapas is one of Portugal’s 63 therapeutic communities – 60 of which are operated by non-profit organizations and three by government The goal of the communities is to  treat residents’ addictions and provide them with the tools they need to avoid relapsing into drug or alcohol use This includes building a network of social supports employment training and skills development Others may remain in the community for up to three years including foreigners like a young Portuguese American who we met during our visit Those referred here by the Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction or by their family doctors pay less The government picks up 80 per cent of the tab — 720 euros or about $1,100 — and the residents or their families provide the remaining 20 per cent But if the families can’t pay or if the clients are on social assistance their costs are fully covered by government eight of the 40 beds were empty even though there are 15 people waiting to have their applications processed Before the government passed laws in 2001 aimed at making it easier to get treatment not everyone had access then because the treatment wasn’t government funded more people have access to therapeutic recovering communities but they have to go through the process of either having the treatment recommended by addictions specialists at the regional treatment centres or by the dissuasion commission people might be waiting three weeks,” he said in an interview “Now the waiting time has increased to up to four months and during that time But the legal changes had positive effects as well With decriminalization of drugs for personal use people are more likely to admit their substance abuse and seek help they no longer have to worry they might end up in jail another therapeutic community called Farol (meaning Lighthouse) is tucked into the mountainside in a tony neighbourhood of Sintra a popular tourist destination because of its beaches two castles and a Moorish fortress that towers over the valley The long walkway from the parking lot to the former college is shaded with mature trees Farol is a collection of classrooms converted into dorms and therapy rooms we can hear the shouts of residents playing volleyball 70 per cent of the residents here are men ages 28 to 35 The government handed the buildings over to the Associação para o Tratamento das Toxicodependências in 1995 and close to 2,000 people have been treated here Despite the promise of fast pathways to treatment everyone who winds up here has had to wait The waiting list for the 27 beds is at least a month “It’s not quick to get in,” Farol’s director “It’s never less than a month or a month and a half on the waiting list They can go to a treatment centre for support once a week while they wait But we do lose many patients during those waiting times.” “Recovery for us is abstinence and giving the client a different kind of life with the internal and external reserves to have a family and a job That’s the most important thing: To give them the self-esteem that they’ve lost,” said Cruz has been on the association’s board since it began more than a decade ago He had to go to London for treatment 33 years ago and when he returned in 1985 Dias started Portugal’s first narcotics anonymous chapter “There are two issues with treatment in Portugal that I would change,” he said in an interview “The state has beds and pays a certain fee per month for treatment People only get supported for three months while some other therapeutic communities that don’t use 12-step are funded for a year.” The second issue is that Dias believes the government ought to be spending money researching what kinds of treatment are the most effective For those who end up at beautiful therapeutic communities like Farol and Quinta das Lapas which is fitting since they are the most acutely addicted in need of the most intensive and tender care The reality is that most substance users — whether in Portugal Canada or any other country — end up being treated as out-patients with some studies suggesting that the results are at least as good as those for in-patients being an outpatient means going to the rather grim Pavilion 21B at the city’s former psychiatric hospital Inside what’s now called the Taipas Centre people wait for appointments in a dimly lit rotunda with too few chairs They brighten with the arrival of the irrepressible Miguel Vasconcelos Ninety-five per cent of the patients are here because they called the well-publicized phone number for addictions help and some may well be referred for in-patient treatment Only five per cent are sent here by the Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction patients are asked to talk about their situation then informed about the services the centre has to offer and the rules of treatment Some require immediate treatment and there are six detox beds nurses and other staff were transferred to other institutions because of budget cut The same thing happened at Lisbon’s other institution that deals with alcoholics It means that 90 per cent of people who are voluntarily going into withdrawal will do so at home nurses and physiotherapists come up with a treatment plan It’s presented to the patient at a team meeting and it might include methadone therapy Those classes are given on the somewhat cheerier second floor of the building But there are still many reminders that this is an institution not least of which the windows in bathroom doors that allow staff to check to see if patients are taking drugs or “Treatment is a tailored program,” he said “Sometimes part of the healing is to reintegrate to jobs and to school I don’t foresee what will happen to my patients And his best advice is always aimed at motivating patients to eventually get entirely off drugs “The treatment program here is directed toward abstinence and maintaining the rules in the process of healing,” he said “But I will try to ensure prevention of HIV.” Among the rules to which patients must agree when they commit to the plan is that they cannot be on drugs when they come to appointments The only exception is methadone — an opioid replacement But it’s considered a short-term therapy needed to get the patient to the next stage of recovery some don’t agree to the plan set out for them preferring to continue using methadone or illicit drugs “I don’t believe in forced treatment,” he said “It’s unthinkable to tell a patient what to do Nothing is mandatory unless the patient puts himself at risk or puts someone else at risk.” Those who refuse treatment are told how to get free methadone from a mobile clinic and that free needles hash pipes and condoms are available from local organizations whose mandate is harm reduction “Harm reduction is an attitude based on the idea that I should accept whatever someone else does,” Vasconcelos said That’s something the psychiatrist firmly rejects Even before the new law decriminalizing drugs for personal use he said that medical professionals here agreed that drug users weren’t criminals rules and regulations and even though this is a small country Vasconcelos said there are regional differences in the types of treatment and the ways it’s delivered we have the risk of disaggregating the national plan.” If regional differences and disagreements threaten a national addictions treatment system in Portugal — a country with a tenth of the land mass of British Columbia albeit double the population — it’s certainly worth considering the challenges if Canada were to embark on a national plan But it doesn’t mean that Canada shouldn’t have a national addictions strategy We’re used to different interpretations of the Canada Health Act across 10 provinces and three territories that stretch over a land mass that is 100 times larger than Portugal with more than triple the population Far from viewing regional differences as an assault on a national plan it could mean that Canadians’ needs are better met by programs and services tailored to their diverse needs dbramham@postmedia.com transmission or republication strictly prohibited This website uses cookies to 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By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy You can manage saved articles in your account the entire Penn State Mont Alto squad earned Cheerleader of the Month honors for February thanks to their efforts throughout the men's basketball team's run to the PSUAC championship the team captains each came to me and said they wanted to see all of their teammates receive the award and it made sense to me,” said coach Jennifer Deinlein “It was a bit of a whirlwind through the end of the season and into the playoffs but they worked really hard to keep improving all their skills “It was such a privilege to cheer for the conference championship game — and in a venue like the Bryce Jordan Center — and I'm extremely proud of how they performed and the versatility they showed throughout the journey there It really is impossible to pick just one standout for the month — this was truly a team effort.” Team members are Janelle Fogle (Smithsburg) — Due to ongoing health and safety concerns surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19 Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races has indefinitely suspended its live racing programs until further notice The track will remain open in the mornings for horsemen on the grounds to continue with light training Construction of the new bridge at Taipa has helped ease flooding problems at nearby Taipa Area School The 300 children at Taipa Area School in Northland have more reason than most for celebrating the new bridge in their town with the structure fixing a chronic problem that often forced the school's closure During heavy rain stormwater flooded the school grounds and year 1-13 pupils had to stay at home Principal Doreen Bailey said she would tell anyone who would listen It was so bad the water level would be over the top of the kids' gumboots," Bailey said That was before the NZ Transport Agency's bridge construction team came to town Their mission was to replace the old one lane bridge and make road and safety improvements in Taipa They also had to replace some of the town's stormwater pipes And they listened when Bailey told her story The school's front gate is just 150 metres or so from the new bridge the Ministry of Education and the Far North District Council to find the extra funding needed to extend the new stormwater pipes from the bridge to the school NZTA senior manager project delivery Andrew Thackwray says it was a good problem to solve and a great benefit to the township It was about achieving better value for a key stakeholder by utilising a range of funding streams outside the National Land Transport Programme "It puts a spring in the step of the project team knowing that they're doing good for the community as well as doing a great job on the bridge replacement." Bailey said the improved drainage was a great success "There's already been some heavy rain this winter And usually the grounds would have been flooded We've had no flooding and no need to close the school." The Festival of Consent runs until Sunday with events including talks and a dance party The public will be consulted about the land plot on which the government has previously announced it would build a public leisure facility known as the “tire park” the director of the Land and Urban Construction Bureau (DSSCU) has said in a written response to a question from lawmaker Ron Lam the final plan for the area will be in the detailed planning of Taipa’s Central District-2 a plan yet to be finalized and still to pass public consultation According to the Urban Master Plan 2020-2040 the Taipa Central District-2 is residential with most of the land already occupied The only exceptions are plots for the tire park and a smaller land area opposite these plots Lai noted that when planning the area in detail the government will “consider using the surrounding land to create green spaces or public open spaces.” Number 2 of Article 35 of the Urban Master Plan document states the government intends to “keep the land in that area for housing,” said Lai Coordination with the different planning sections of the Taipa area will be done to “perfect the public and collective use facilities,” said Lai and “if the conditions are found to be suitable after examination and study the [former site of the tire park] may still be used temporarily for a different purpose [such as public space] until the long-term use of the land is decided.” Sixteen-year-old Ella Bijl from Taipa does a backflip off the new bridge Taipā's new bridge had been officially opened for less than an hour before locals were doing backflips into the river below $19 million bridge included a facility for the time-honoured Northland summer tradition of doing bombs — the art of creating as big a splash as possible when jumping off a bridge Safety concerns, however, prompted a U-turn by the NZ Transport Agency which ditched the jumping platform in favour of a lookout READ MORE:• Premium - NZTA does U-turn on Taipa bridge jumping platform especially on a sweltering day like Monday Associate Transport Minister Shane Jones had barely finished declaring the bridge open before 16-year-old Ella Bijl was putting it to the test with a series of backflips Ella said the new bridge was a major improvement on the old one ''It's harder to get over the rail but it's higher and it's much better It's more stable too — the rail on the old one was a bit rickety.'' With years of experience of jumping into the Taipā River she said the water was deep and she had no safety concerns She also noted exit steps had been built on the riverbank so jumping was clearly expected ''I reckon they're trying to wrap us in cotton wool had another compelling argument for bridge-jumping ''There's not much else to do in Taipā anyway,'' she said As of Monday there were no signs banning jumping Taipa’s new outdoor parking lot for heavy-duty vehicles has had the Transport Bureau (DSAT) stated in a written response to a Times inquiry only 1.19 of the 17 available parking bays have been used over this period The figure coincides with a report that the Times published Dec 20 in which several people residing or working in the area said that it was barely ever occupied Several reports noted the low occupancy could be related to the high fares charged the hourly rate is MOP10 during the day (8 a.m to 8 p.m.) and MOP5 in the nighttime (8 p.m the DSAT said the car park for light vehicles has recorded an occupancy rate of 55% during the same period Several Times interviewees noted the light vehicles car park generally had a much higher occupancy residents complained about the design and functionality of the car park which they said wastes space and resources Some claimed it would be more useful if the park could have parking space for motorcycles You must be logged in to post a comment Labour list MP Willow-Jean Prime and her new youth counterpart Shiquille Duval Labour list MP Willow-Jean Prime has selected Taipa Area School student Shiquille Duval as her 2019 Youth MP Shiquille said she had put herself forward because she was passionate about working to bring about change in her community/hapū particularly in terms of the damage being done by methamphetamine In preparing her application she had put three key questions to whānau the wider hapū and professionals — What are your thoughts around meth How harmful do you think meth is to whānau and what kind of impact do you think it has on whānau members What support or help is needed within our community/hapū or how do you think we as whānau can help our people Whānau said they recognised the harm methamphetamine was causing Choosing the drug over core values in life hapū and community want to see to support for those addicted to meth including access to whānau support groups and solutions based on identifying as Māori and mātauranga "Māori have always had systems where if one of our own is lost we help them to find their way." "Care for the user and their whānau as a whole and listen to what people have to say." Her research had identified tamariki as a main priority "If the money is going on meth and there is no kai in the house what sort of learning is going on for those kids?" she asked Shiquille said she wanted to be a Youth MP to help advocate for change because she cared and prioritised Te Tai Tokerau Her tupuna had played a big part in the community "I have seen a lot of broken connections within people of our community," she said."I think it is important to have strong connections "I think I will be perfect to represent Te Tai Tokerau because this is a major issue in our community and I would love to learn new skills and approaches within the parliamentary and government world that would support solving this issue." The Youth Parliament 2019 programme will run from March 1 to August 31 with 120 'MPs' and up to 20 Youth Press Gallery members attending a two-day Youth Parliament in Wellington in July The programme is designed to give young people the chance to actively work in and be heard on and issues they are passionate about They will submit potential topics to be discussed at the Youth Parliament connect with their peers to understand their views on topics to be discussed in Wellington and access other opportunities In July they will learn about parliamentary and government decision-making processes by participating in general and mock legislative debates sitting on Youth Parliament select committees and asking parliamentary questions of Ministers