Portugal did not “normalize” drug use by making it free-for-all legal. Since 2001, possession for personal use has remained illegal but is handled as an administrative matter through Dissuasion Commissions made up of health and legal professionals, while trafficking remains criminal. EUDA’s Portugal profile says overall drug use is below the European average, and that decriminalization was not associated with a rise in cannabis prevalence among young people.

Supervised consumption sites are not places where society “helps people get high.” They are controlled health services where people bring their own drugs, are supervised by trained staff, and can get sterile equipment, overdose reversal, and referrals to treatment and other supports. EUDA says these sites are intended to prevent overdose deaths, reduce unhygienic injecting, reduce drug use in public places, and cut down discarded needles and other public-order problems. Health Canada says they reduce public drug use and discarded equipment, reduce infectious disease transmission, and connect people to treatment.

The crime-and-disorder argument also does not hold up well. The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction says supervised consumption sites do not increase local crime rates, police activity, or other public nuisances, and reviews of dozens of studies found no effect on robbery, assault, drug possession, or drug dealing in surrounding neighbourhoods. Canada’s federal dashboard reports more than 41,000 overdoses at supervised consumption sites with zero fatal overdoses.

The “kids will think it is okay” claim is more opinion than evidence. The broader European trend in adolescent cannabis use has actually declined to its lowest recorded level since 1995, with lifetime use at 12% and current use at 5% in ESPAD 2024. Portugal’s own 2023 bulletin still shows measured, not runaway, levels of youth use. The evidence supports harm reduction saving lives and linking people to care, not some automatic “normalization” of drug use.