105. Portugal's drug policy

Treating, not punishing
Aug 27th 2009 | LISBON From The Economist print edition

The evidence from Portugal since 2001 is that decriminalisation of drug use and possession has benefits and no harmful side-effects

105-1-488
IN 2001 newspapers around the world carried graphic reports of addicts injecting heroin in the grimy streets of a Lisbon slum. The place was dubbed Europe's "most shameful neighbourhood" and its "worst drugs ghetto". The Times helpfully managed to find a young British backpacker sprawled comatose on a corner. This lurid coverage was prompted by a government decision to decriminalise the personal use and possession of all drugs, including heroin and cocaine. The police were told not to arrest anyone found taking any kind of drug.
This "ultraliberal legislation", said the foreign media, had set alarm bells ringing across Europe. The Portuguese were said to be fearful that holiday resorts would become dumping-grounds for drug tourists. Some conservative politicians denounced the decriminalisation as "pure lunacy". Plane-loads of foreign students would head for the Algarve to smoke marijuana, predicted Paulo Portas, leader of the People's Party. Portugal, he said, was offering "sun, beaches and any drug you like."
Yet after all the furore, the drug law was largely forgotten by the international and Portuguese pressuntil earlier this year, when the Cato Institute, a libertarian American think-tank, published a study of the new policy by a lawyer, Glenn Greenwald.* In contrast to the dire consequences that critics predicted, he concluded that "none of the nightmare scenarios' initially painted," from rampant increases in drug usage among the young to the transformation of Lisbon into a haven for 'drug tourists', has occurred.

A. 어휘
drug policy 마약정책. treat 치료하다. punish 처벌하다. evidence 증거.
decriminalisation 非犯罪化(비범죄화), 解禁(해금). side-effects 부작용.
graphic 생생한, 그림 같은. addicts 마약중독자. inject 주사 놓다.
grimy 더러운. dub ...라고 부르다, 별명을 붙이다. ghetto 貧民街(빈민가).
backpacker 배낭여행자. sprawl 손발을 보기 흉하게 쭉 뻗고 엎드리다(드러눕다).
comatose 혼수상태의. lurid 빛깔이 짙은, 선정적인, 무서울 정도로 불게 빛나는.
coverage 신문보도, 취재. prompt 고무하다, 자극하다.
ultra 극단적인. liberal 너그러운, 자유주의의. legislation 입법.
resort 行樂地(행락지), 휴양지. dumping-ground 쓰레기를 버리는 곳.
conservative 보수적인. denounce 비난하다. lunacy 미친 짓, 정신이상.
plane-load 비행기를 가득 채운 분량의 화물. predict 예언하다, 예상하다.
furore 激情(격정). institute 연구소. think-tank 연구소.
in contrast to ...와 대조적으로. dire 무시무시한, 비참한. consequences 결과.
nightmare 악몽. initially 처음에. rampant 맹렬한. transformation 변형.
haven 피난처, 안식처, 항구.

B. 구문
- none of the nightmare scenarios' initially. . . drug tourists', has occurred.
cf. initially painted→which were painted initially
[젊은 사람들 사이에서 마약사용의 급격한 증가에서부터 수도 Lisbon이 “마약관광객”의 피난처로 변형될 것이라는 예측에 이르기까지, 처음에 상상했던, “악몽 같은 시나리오”는 하나도 일어나지 않았다.]

105-2-489
Mr Greenwald claims that the data show that 'decriminalisation has had no adverse effect on drug usage rates in Portugal', which 'in numerous categories are now among the lowest in the European Union'. This came after some rises in the 1990s, before decriminalisation. The figures reveal little evidence of drug tourism: 95% of those cited for drug misdemeanours since 2001 have been Portuguese. The level of drug trafficking, measured by numbers convicted, has also declined. And the incidence of other drug-related problems, including sexually transmitted diseases and deaths from drug overdoses, has 'decreased dramatically'.
There are widespread misconceptions about the Portuguese approach. "It is important not to confuse decriminalisation with depenalisation or legalisation,"comments Brendan Hughes of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, which is, coincidentally, based in Lisbon. "Drug use remains illegal in Portugal, and anyone in possession will be stopped by the police, have the drugs confiscated and be sent before a commission."
Nor is it uncommon in Europe to make drug use an administrative offence rather than a criminal one (putting it in the same category as not wearing a seat belt, say). What is unique, according to Mr Hughes, is that offenders in Portugal are sent to specialist "dissuasion commissions" run by the government, rather than into the judicial system. "In Portugal," he says, "the health aspect [of the government's response to drugs] has gone mainstream."

A. 어휘
decriminalisation 非犯罪化(비범죄화). adverse effect 역효과.
drug usage rates 마약사용률. numerous 많은. category 部門(부문), 範疇(범주).
figure 수치. reveal 감추어진 것을 알리다, 폭로하다.
cite 법정으로 소환하다, 引證(인증)하다, 예로 들다.
misdemeanour 非行(비행), 죄. drug trafficking 마약거래.
measure 측정하다. convict 유죄 선고하다. decline 감소하다.
incidence 사건발생 범위. sexually transmitted diseases 성적으로 전달된 병.
overdose 과잉복용. decrease 감소하다. widespread 蔓延(만연)된, 널리 퍼진.
misconception 오해, 틀린 생각, 착각. approach 방법. confuse 혼돈하다.
depenalisation 非刑罰(비형벌), 유죄가 아니게 하는 것.
legalisation 합법화. addiction 중독. coincidentally 동시에, 우연히 일치하여.
illegal 불법적인. confiscate 몰수하다. commission 위원회.
administrative 행정상의. offence 위반, 반칙, 죄. criminal 범죄의.
unique 독특한. offender 위반자, 범죄자. dissuasion 설득하여 그만두게 하기.
judicial system 사법기관. aspect 견해, 해석, 상황, 양상.

B. 구문
- "In Portugal," he says, "the health. . . has gone mainstream."
[“포르투갈에서는 마약에 대한 정부의 대응에 있어서 마약문제를 건강문제로 간주하는 것이 大勢(대세)가 되었습니다” 라고 그는 말하였다.]