Drug Decriminalization in Maryland Through an African Centered Research Paradigm- Analysis and Recommendations

from military dictatorship to democracy required the destruction of old institutions built to support
the military regime and the refashioning of a democratic civil society; this is a recipe for disrupting
psycho-social integration and under Alexander’s theory it is logical under these conditions
addiction would increase. Indeed, one could use Alexander’s theory to present the hypothesis that
as decmoratic civil society reasserts itself, psycho-social integration could be reestablished and the
addiction “epidemic” could largely resolve itself, a hypothesis supported by the fact that, in 2001,
only 8% admitted drug use, putting Portugal's drug use rates among the lowest in Europe even
before the rolling out of the “revolutionary” drug decriminalization regime (ibid). While it’s
possible that self reported drug use rates can under count actual drug use rates, as individual may
feel a self of shame (especially in a concervative society like Portugal), one could imagine similar
dynamics being at play in all the European nation’s who self reported data. That Portugal's drug
use rates did not seem to be beyond the norm for a European country further supports the notion
that a proper analysis of Portugal's drug addiction “crisis” must include the context of racialized
fears of “wasted whiteness” being part of the impetus driving policy changes.
This is important not only in understanding the context which produced the sense that there
was an “addiction crisis” in Portugal in the 2000s, but also to understand the solutions which were
proposed and why they were deemed acceptable in that specific period of time. The Portugal
experience is often narrated as the rise of science and reason overwhelming political inertia,
leading the creation of an enlightened solution through differing to expertise, as Domosławski
write:
“The Portuguese government’s actions in 1998 went precisely against all of the typical
and expected “emergency” policy responses. Instead, the government appointed a
committee of specialists—doctors, sociologists, psychologists, lawyers, and social
activists—and asked the committee to analyze the drug issue in Portugal and formulate
recommendations that could be turned into a national strategy.” (ibid).
Given Ani’s analysis of “scientific rationality” and “objective reason” being use as tools to
promote European superiority and domination, it is important that researchers be skeptical of this
narrative. For example, it was not objective, expert led political debate, but the specific
circumstances of Protuguese society that to drug decriminalization laws passing in the early 2000s.
During the late 90s and early 2000’s, Domosławski report that their was still a feeling in Portugese
society that remember the abuses of power under the military dictatorship and creating a unique
sense of sympathy for folks suffering under the boot of state authority, writing:
“The fact that there was opposition to the new law and reforms serves to underscore a
constant and fundamental question about the process in Portugal: why did the government
adopt the new policy so decisively? Some of those interviewed for this study explained it
simply as the government having a fundamental conviction and the political will to have
what it saw as the right path prevail. Another interviewee from the IDT noted that after
years of living under a dictatorship, the Portuguese public was sensitive to the needs of the
aggrieved and society’s weaker members; bearing this in mind, the government could feel
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