Portuguese health workers refer to Greece as a cautionary tale. Wracked by a budgetary crisis and the austerity conditions of repeated bailouts, Greece experienced an explosion of HIV transmission rates after budget cuts left health programs drastically underfunded. According to EU figures, only Greece and Latvia experienced larger cuts than Portugal to its public health services between the period of 2005 to 2007 and 2009 to 2012.
And yet Portugal experienced no discernable rise in HIV transmission — the cushion effect in action.
"Usually the focus is on the decriminalization itself, but it worked because there were other services, and the coverage increased for needle replacement, detox, therapeutic communities, and employment options for people who use drugs," said Fuertes. "It was the combination of the law and these services that made it a success. It's very difficult to find people in Portugal who disagree with this model."
'via Blog this'