Personally I do not know enough about Portugal to specifically comment on that. But, in General what Country in Europe is similar to the USA?

My best guess is that none of the Countries in Europe are like the USA; including Portugal.

What I think is the biggest difference is that People in the USA see themselves as individuals and the the US Government views them that way and Europeans see themselves more as a member of their Community and there Goverment's view of them that way; in part because their Countries are smaller.

Is the Culture in Portugal more diverse then here? I don't know but I doubt it.
I have the general impression that Family cohesion is more important in European Countries then here. But, I can't prove that either.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

Their you go, now you fall back on the old I'm being persecuted for my beliefs thing that you have been using for the past 10 years when someone calls you out on your BS.

Were not even having the same conversation. All you do is shout one thing, never respond to anyone in any kind of constructive manner, and never read any material posted that the conversation is based on. Then when people call you out on it, you throw a tantrum.

One of these days the old Larry might show up and start a constructive conversion, but to tell you the truth its been a long time and the waiting is getting tiresome.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I have not read one mention of prevention.
Hard Drugs although not as many and Weed have been available for a long time.

No one has commented on what kept the majority of People in the Past from becoming Drug Addicts.
Up until about 1960 illegal drug use except in large Cities was not prolific like it is now.

What I believe has happened is that in freeing themselves from Religious, Moral and legal Obligations People have Assassinated themselves.

It is our culture here in the "Land of Opportunity" that the Individual is expected to take care of themselves when they have problems and that no one else is supposed to "Foot the Bill" for someone else.

At one time sending People to Jail used to work. But, that was when few People wanted to be Crimminals and some of the Crimminals had enough intelligence to change.
Neither is the case now.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

What you are really saying is that you refuse to discuss the issue.

All you want is to rant your vitriolic perspective on anyone who is unfortunate enough to come into proximity....
Multiple times in this thread the point has been raised that what you profess to desire is the real outcome of the route taken by Portugal, and this you cannot/will not or are entirely incapable of acknowledging....

Your ban was too short. You have learned nothing.

There are so many people here who are willing to indulge your peculiarities, and make overt attempts to draw you into discussion, giving your viewpoint equal footing, and yet you reject the opportunity to enter into logical and neighborly discourse... Very sad.

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

Dude... they were just good at hiding it, and you were poor at finding out.
Very little has changed in the last 50+ years except for perception.

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

Truth.

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On some nights I still believe that a car with the fuel gauge on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio. - HST

1983 300SD - 305000
1984 Toyota Landcruiser - 190000
1994 GMC Jimmy - 203000

https://media.giphy.com/media/X3nnss8PAj5aU/giphy.gif

And apparently, you have absolutely no interest in giving any thought to ways in this might be changed.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Well then, if I make your life such a living hell, what's stopping you? Go ahead and click on the triangle.

Legalizing such family destroying and life destroying activity is NOT the way to fix it. There are also cases of rape, murder and bank robbery in this country. Just legalize those too. That'll fix it.

The article doesn't mention legalizing any drug. More proof of your unwillingness to consider, much less READ the offered information.

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You're a daisy if you do.
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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
04 Honda Element AWD
1985 F150 XLT 4x4, 351W with 270k miles, hay hauler
1997 Suzuki Sidekick 4x4
1993 Toyota 4wd Pickup 226K and counting

Wow. You and Diesel911 grew up in the same neighborhood? That's quite a coincidence.

Okay, change the word legalize in my sentence to decriminalize. Happy?

I think you're on the right track here.

Instead of trying to re-educate a member, can we just discuss the topic and pull the plug on the energy source which feeds it?

If part of being human is the reduction of suffering and death, then there appears to be hope in these programs that reconnect drug users with society than those that isolate them.

You may be right and critical thought may not be part of his process. On the other hand, Larry appears to have a peculiar need for attention and exercises it by knowingly being an antagonist to those who express rational ideas on this type of social issue. He does the exact same thing time after time; never appears rational to the majority of us, and yet, in the end always gets the attention he’s after. It amounts to a type of symbiosis. He feeds others by disagreeing; in turn, they feed him by suggesting he has intellectual issues. Some people don’t care about the type of attention they get, but they demand it in a way they know they will achieve their goal. He appears to me to do this very successfully.

Back to the A theme of this thread: Several years ago in this area, the courts started to treat first time convicted drug abusers more as having psychological problems rather than as criminals. This approach was rare in the USA initially, and the area may have been the first in the nation to do so, but the approach has become more broadly used. I don’t know how many states do this now but it is considered cost effective and mostly successful. The goal is to treat the person as needing to dry out and also requiring counseling, so rather than necessarily putting the perps in jail/prison they mandate a state hospital stay and then on-going counseling. The perp has to pay at least a % or for all of the treatments. It costs the tax payer little to nothing. That is way better than supporting people in prison. If the perp’s problems persist they may get the all expense paid criminal's treatment after subsequent convictions. Again, this approach has reportedly had great success. They do not do this for convicted dealers.