In Portugal, the drug decriminalization experiment is going pretty well last time I checked.
They went from nearly 1% of their overall population being addicted to heroin specifically to having one of the lowest drug addiction rates in Europe. It’s not just decriminalization, though. Their public health initiatives such as methadone vans, mental health checkups for repeat offenders, etc were equally if not more important.
mental health checkups for repeat offenders
This one, I think, is particularly huge.
I work in 911 dispatch in the US, we have a lot of repeat callers, and it’s probably no surprise that a lot of them have drug, alcohol, or other mental health issues.
It happens a lot that one of them will finally do something that gets them hauled off to jail or to a psych hospital or whatever, they get out, do ok for a little while, then relapse, or stop taking their meds, or otherwise fall back into their old patterns and they’re back to causing issues for another few months, years, etc. until they again do something they can be brought in for and start the cycle again.
Making sure, in some way, that they’re following up on whatever treatment, counseling, etc. they need after they get released could be huge for a lot of them. There are some programs in place, but it can be hard to ensure they’re actually sticking to them, and of course there are usually money, time, and transportation issues they often need to overcome to stick with them as well.