Boots on the ground here, I was there when it started. It was good.. It was kind of amazing. Before decriminalization there was a huge number of junkies. Heroin took a hugel toll on portuguese consumers. Zombies everywhere, needles, robberies, shooting on the street.. Living hell. All this almost disappeared once they started to open safe spaces and giving free methadone. Safer spaces, lot less horror on the streets. ( its weird because despite being horrendous, it made me very scared of opioid addiction and kept me far from them).

Reality is, people self medicate. Anyone thinking opioid addiction is a choice, is because they dont understand how addiction works.

The way to go is not offering free drugs just because. You have to find a somewhat middle ground to treat these people and contain them in safe spaces for themselves and the rest of the people. And by containing i mean a facility more close to a mental hospice rather than a prision.

Most of this addicts would have a somewhat normal existence if they had access to cheap and safe drugs. How do we finance this is a another discussion, but treating them as people who need treatment is a much more correct approach of treat them as criminals.

This doesnt mean free drugs and skidrow alike campings.. There is a middle ground to be explored. Other countries like switzerland have also interesting models.

proibition wont stop drugs, education and family will