Sources · Decriminalising drugs
This house would decriminalise possession of all drugs for personal use.
Fact bank v1 · 13 cards
- DRG-01True
“More people around the world use drugs than ever before, even though drugs are banned.”
Confirmed: the UN drugs office estimates that 331 million people used drugs in 2024. That is about 6.2% of people aged 15 to 64, up from 5.2% ten years earlier.
That is 34% more people than ten years before. Part of the rise is because there are more people in the world and better data, but the UN says a bigger share of people now use drugs too. Cannabis is by far the most used drug, with 256 million users. These numbers show bans have not stopped drug use growing. They do not show what would happen if the bans were lifted.
“An estimated 331 million people used drugs in 2024, equivalent to 6.2 per cent of the world’s population aged 15 to 64”
UN News (United Nations)·Global drug use reaches record high as increasingly potent synthetic drugs spreadIntergovernmental body · 26 Jun 2026 ↗Further sources for this card
- DRG-02Mostly true
“The United Nations says having drugs for personal use should be decriminalised.”
UN agencies have agreed a shared position that calls for ending criminal punishment for having drugs for personal use. In 2017, the World Health Organization and other UN bodies also called for reviewing and scrapping laws that punish drug use or having drugs for personal use.
This is the view of the UN's own agencies, not a law that countries must follow. Each country still makes its own drug laws. A 2023 UN human rights report says the UN's drug control board has found that decriminalisation fits within the UN drug treaties.
“the United Nations system common position on drug-related matters calls for the decriminalization of drug possession for personal use”
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (report to the UN Human Rights Council)·Human rights challenges in addressing and countering all aspects of the world drug problem (A/HRC/54/53)Intergovernmental body · 15 Aug 2023 ↗ - DRG-03False
“Decriminalising drugs means making them legal to buy and sell.”
Decriminalisation keeps drugs illegal. It swaps criminal punishment for having a small amount for things like fines or being sent to health services. Dealing and selling drugs are still crimes.
In Portugal, someone caught with up to about 10 days' supply is sent to a local panel of a lawyer, a doctor and a social worker. The panel can suggest treatment, or give a fine or community service. Letting drugs be sold legally is a different policy, called legalisation.
“Decriminalisation retains the recognition that drug possession is illegal, but removes criminal penalties in most cases.”
Home Office (UK Government)·Drugs: International ComparatorsGovernment / parliament · 30 Oct 2014 ↗Further sources for this card
- DRG-04Mostly false
“Countries with tougher drug laws have less drug use.”
A 2014 UK Home Office study, which looked at drug policies in 11 countries, found no clear link between how tough a country is on drug possession and how many people use drugs.
Portugal and the Czech Republic both treat having small amounts as a minor offence, not a crime. Drug use in Portugal was fairly low, but cannabis use in the Czech Republic was among the highest in Europe. Sweden, one of the toughest, had fairly low use, but not much lower than countries with other approaches. Japan is also very strict. The study said it is hard to tell if low drug use in Sweden and Japan comes from their laws or from their culture. Comparing countries is hard because they collect data in different ways.
“we did not in our fact-finding observe any obvious relationship between the toughness of a country’s enforcement against drug possession”
Home Office (UK Government)·Drugs: International ComparatorsGovernment / parliament · 30 Oct 2014 ↗ - DRG-05Mostly true
“Decriminalising drugs in Portugal led to a big fall in HIV among people who inject drugs.”
New HIV cases among people who inject drugs in Portugal fell from almost 800 in 2003 to fewer than 100 in 2012. But Portugal also greatly expanded treatment, needle exchanges and opioid substitute medicines at the same time, so decriminalisation cannot take all the credit.
Portugal's law came into force in 2001. Researchers say it is hard to separate the effect of the law change from the big boost in health services. A UK Home Office study agreed that the health gains could not be put down to decriminalisation alone.
“new HIV transmission among people who inject drugs declined from almost 800 cases in 2003 to less than 100 in 2012”
The Lancet (Csete et al., 2016, via PubMed Central, NIH)·Public health and international drug policyGovernment / parliament · 24 Mar 2016 ↗Further sources for this card
- DRG-06Mostly false
“Drug use shot up in Portugal after it decriminalised drugs.”
Not in the first ten years or so. Drug use in Portugal rose between 2001 and 2007, then fell. By 2012, use of most drugs was below 2001 levels, and a UK Home Office study found no lasting, significant rise.
A 2010 study by criminologists Caitlin Hughes and Alex Stevens also found that decriminalisation did not lead to big increases in drug use, and found less problem drug use. These figures stop at about 2012, so they cannot tell you whether drug use in Portugal has gone up since then.
“It is clear that there has not been a lasting and significant increase in drug use in Portugal since 2001.”
Home Office (UK Government)·Drugs: International ComparatorsGovernment / parliament · 30 Oct 2014 ↗ - DRG-07Mixed
“Decriminalising drugs frees up police time to fight serious crime.”
In Portugal, the number of people dealt with by police for having drugs stayed about the same after decriminalisation, at around 6,000 a year. But far fewer drug cases went to court, and the share of prisoners there for drug-related crimes (including crimes to pay for drugs) fell from 44% in 1999 to 21% in 2008.
Police in Portugal still deal with people caught with drugs, but send them to a health panel instead of to court. So decriminalisation seems to ease the load on courts and prisons more than on police. Around the world, the UN drugs office says about two thirds of the 5.9 million people dealt with by police for drug offences in 2024 were there for drug use or personal possession.
“It is not clear that decriminalisation reduces the burden on the police.”
Home Office (UK Government)·Drugs: International ComparatorsGovernment / parliament · 30 Oct 2014 ↗ - DRG-08Mixed
“Oregon's drug decriminalisation caused a huge rise in overdose deaths.”
Oregon's overdose death rate did rise by about 50% in 2021, the year the law started. One study blamed the law for 182 extra deaths that year, 23% more than expected without the law. But two other studies found no clear link, and one showed the link disappeared once the arrival of fentanyl was taken into account.
Fentanyl is a very strong opioid. It spread through Oregon's illegal drug supply in the first half of 2021, just as the law, Measure 110, began in February 2021. Because both happened at the same time, it is hard to tell which one caused the rise in deaths. The study that took fentanyl into account used data up to the end of 2022.
“no association between M110 and fatal overdose rates was observed”
JAMA Network Open (Zoorob et al., 2024, via PubMed, NIH)·Drug Decriminalization, Fentanyl, and Fatal Overdoses in OregonGovernment / parliament · 3 Sept 2024 ↗Further sources for this card
- Journal of Health Economics (Spencer, 2023, via PubMed, NIH) · Does drug decriminalization increase unintentional drug overdose deaths?: Early evidence from Oregon Measure 110 ↗
- JAMA Psychiatry (Joshi et al., 2023, via PubMed, NIH) · One-Year Association of Drug Possession Law Change With Fatal Drug Overdose in Oregon and Washington ↗
- JAMA Network Open (Zoorob et al., 2024, full text via PubMed Central, NIH) · Drug Decriminalization, Fentanyl, and Fatal Overdoses in Oregon ↗
- DRG-09True
“Oregon and British Columbia both tried decriminalising drugs and then reversed it.”
Confirmed: Oregon's lawmakers voted in March 2024 to make drug possession a crime again, starting in September 2024. British Columbia brought back criminal penalties for having drugs in most public places in May 2024, and ended its three-year trial in January 2026.
Researchers say both schemes started without enough treatment, housing and support services in place. In Oregon, most of the new money for treatment and housing was delayed until August 2022. Ending a scheme does not by itself prove that the scheme caused harm.
“Criminal penalties were reintroduced for drug possession in most public spaces in May 2024, and the pilot ended in January 2026.”
International Journal of Drug Policy (Ali et al., 2026, via PubMed, NIH)·Implementation factors shaping British Columbia's drug decriminalization pilot: A systematic review with narrative synthesisGovernment / parliament · 21 Jul 2026 ↗Further sources for this card
- JAMA Network Open (Zoorob et al., 2024, full text via PubMed Central, NIH) · Drug Decriminalization, Fentanyl, and Fatal Overdoses in Oregon ↗
- International Journal of Drug Policy (Smiley-McDonald et al., 2025, via PubMed, NIH) · Drug decriminalization policy under the microscope in the United States: crime data considerations to inform future research ↗
- DRG-10Mixed
“Decriminalisation in British Columbia made the overdose crisis worse.”
One study linked British Columbia's drug policies to more people in hospital for opioid overdoses, but found too little evidence that they caused more deaths. Another study found that decriminalisation was not linked to more opioid overdose hospital stays.
The first study looked at two changes. In March 2020, British Columbia began offering prescription-grade opioids to people at risk of overdose. Then, in January 2023, it decriminalised drugs. The study found 1.27 more opioid hospital stays per 100,000 people after decriminalisation, on top of the rise linked to the first change. Its data only ran to the end of 2023. The authors say the rise might mean people felt safer asking for help, or that some prescribed opioids were passed on to others. Neither study found that decriminalisation reduced overdoses.
“There was insufficient evidence to conclusively attribute an increase in opioid overdose deaths to these policy changes.”
JAMA Health Forum (Nguyen et al., 2025, via PubMed, NIH)·Safer Opioid Supply, Subsequent Drug Decriminalization, and Opioid OverdosesGovernment / parliament · 7 Mar 2025 ↗ - DRG-11True
“Drug deaths in England and Wales are the highest on record.”
Confirmed: 5,565 deaths from drug poisoning were registered in England and Wales in 2024, the most since records began in 1993. That is 93.9 deaths for every million people.
The death rate has gone up every year since 2012 and is now more than double what it was then. The total includes deaths from medicines; 3,736 of the deaths were counted as drug misuse. Just under half involved opioids such as heroin, and 195 involved nitazenes, very strong man-made opioids. The numbers show the problem is growing, but do not show by themselves what a change in the law would do.
“In England and Wales in 2024, 5,565 deaths related to drug-poisoning were registered; this is the highest number since records began in 1993”
Office for National Statistics·Deaths related to drug poisoning in England and Wales: 2024 registrationsOfficial statistics · 17 Oct 2025 ↗ - DRG-12True
“Most police stop and searches in England and Wales are for drugs, and Black people are searched far more often than White people.”
Confirmed: in the year to March 2025, 60.9% of all stop and searches were for suspected drug possession. Black people were searched at 3.8 times the rate of White people.
Only about 3 in 10 drug searches (29.3%) led to an outcome linked to the reason for the search, such as an arrest or a warning. The gap between Black and White people has narrowed: it was 5.5 times in the year to March 2021.
“the most common reason for carrying out a PACE stop and search was on suspicion of drug possession”
Home Office (UK Government)·Police powers and procedures: Stop and search, arrests and mental health detentions, England and Wales, year ending 31 March 2025Government / parliament · 6 Nov 2025 ↗ - DRG-13Mixed
“After Portugal decriminalised drugs, overdose deaths there fell sharply.”
The evidence is split. A 2023 UN human rights report says Portugal's approach led to a big drop in overdoses. But a 2014 UK Home Office study found that, overall, drug-related deaths in Portugal had stayed about the same since 2001.
The Home Office said the yearly numbers can jump around because the number of drug tests done after deaths changed from year to year. It also said any health gains could not be put down to the law change alone, because Portugal expanded treatment too. The UN report also credits Portugal's wider set of health services, not just the law. The Home Office study was written in 2014, so it does not cover recent years.
“overall drug-related deaths have been stable since 2001. These outcomes can not be attributed to decriminalisation alone”
Home Office (UK Government)·Drugs: International ComparatorsGovernment / parliament · 30 Oct 2014 ↗
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