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Comment by phas0ruk | Hacker News Reader

This reminds me of Vancouver Canada. What happens is decent people and families move out of the downtown core, leaving the worst offenders to run amok. It’s sad. I wonder how many of the 200 experts advocating for the continuation of this policy have children.

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It shouldn't. Vancouver and Portugal have very different policy.

In Portugal drug possession, use are illegal. They aren't criminal but are illegal and carry penalties at special drug courts which give less protect to defendents.

Also, Vancouver's downtown core hardly had any families and things families need simply aren't available downtown.

> Vancouver and Portugal have very different policy.

They shouldn't be all that different. Vancouver (well, British Columbia) has tried to model its decriminalization efforts after Portugal's.

That decriminalization hasn't even been around for more than a handful of months, though, so it seems rather early for Vancouver to also be having doubts. Nobody was expecting things to change overnight; Health Canada allowed until 2026 to prove the model.

Vancouver and BC's opioid crisis gets worse and worse as the policies continue to become more and more liberal. Every year there are more tent cities, more crime, and more overdose deaths.

It's also getting worse just as fast in the rest of Canada without the lack of enforcement of the wet coast. Doesn't sound like a causative correlation to me.

You're not hearing what I said.

In Portugal drug possession, use are not criminal but they are illegal and carry penalties.

In BC possession for personal use is legal. There are no penalties.

That is not the same.

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