Congratulations to our colleague Manuel Pinto Coelho in Portugal.  This is an enormous victory!  The very liberal drug policy of Portugal is crumbling.

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Dear colleagues,

As you can see, although in Portuguese, it is official – Portuguese IDT and all its staff including the president Goulão has been abolished.

The mask fell down and there is no more “magnificent Portuguese model – an example to the world”. I hope Portuguese authorities decision may arrive in time to dissuade the rest of the world don’t follow countries like Mexico, Argentina and Czech Republic – as you know unfortunately they did bite the hook and decriminalized drugs already.

 The magnificent Health Minister Paulo Macedo (ex-responsible by the treasure and finances) is now trying to understand how it was possible the existence of so many holes of so many millions of euros, opening the eyes FINALY to some personal and/or corporate interests some years ago installed… and as you can imagine there is a (very) few people very worried about…!

Now there is the SICAD with the competencies of…”…planeamento e acompanhamento de programas de redução do consumo de substâncias psicoactivas, na prevenção dos comportamentos aditivos e na diminuição das dependências num novo serviço criado no âmbito da administração directa do Ministério da Saúde”

that means, the”… planning and following up of programs to reduce the consumption of psychoactive substances, prevention of addictive behaviours and diminishing of dependencies in a new service born in Health Ministry direct administration.”

Treatment and harm reduction structures are since today within the responsibility of the several structures in the ground of National Health Service untied to central services… So the licences to internments and other services became responsibility of each and every ARS – Health Regional Administration accordingly its needs in the ground.

 This is a big victory of good sense and REASON and very good news to everyone who suffer with drug dependence, giving to all of us more wings to believe that our efforts must go on moving always forward a drug free society

 Manuel Pinto Coelho, International Task Force on Strategic Drug Policy.  Dec. 2011