What decriminalization felt like from the inside
Twenty years on — a member reflects on dignity, paperwork, and the slow return of trust.
Inês M.
harm-reduction peer worker · Lisbon, Portugal
People ask me if decriminalization worked. The honest answer is: it changed the conversation, which is most of the work.
Before, every encounter with a system — clinic, school, employer, landlord — started with a question about whether I was a criminal. After, it started with a question about whether I was okay.
That sounds small. It is the difference between hiding and being known. You cannot build a life from a hiding place.
Twenty years on, the policy is imperfect, the funding is uneven, and the work is unfinished. The dignity, though — the dignity is real, and it is the part that lets the rest become possible.
Tagged
- Recovery
- Addiction Recovery
- Recovery City
- Lisbon, Portugal
