Drug decriminalization

Drug decriminalization removes criminal penalties for specified drug-related conduct, commonly possession for personal use, while leaving commercial production and supply illegal.

Drug legalization: Drug legalization makes specified drug-related conduct lawful under a regulated legal framework. Unlike decriminalization, legalization can permit regulated production and commercial sale.
Personal drug possession: Personal drug possession is holding a controlled substance for one’s own use rather than for supply. Possession for personal use is the conduct most commonly targeted by decriminalization.
Portugal drug policy: Portugal’s drug policy treats possession of limited quantities for personal use as an administrative matter rather than a crime. Portugal’s 2001 reform is a prominent example of decriminalizing personal possession while retaining trafficking offenses.
Incarceration: Incarceration is confinement in a prison or jail as a consequence of criminal conviction or detention. Removing criminal penalties for possession can reduce one pathway into custody.
Drug prohibition: Drug prohibition uses law to ban specified drug-related conduct and impose penalties for violations. Decriminalization removes criminal penalties from conduct prohibition otherwise punishes.
Decriminalization threshold: A decriminalization threshold is a legal quantity or other criterion used to distinguish personal possession from suspected supply. Threshold rules shape who receives decriminalized treatment and who may still face prosecution.
Oregon Measure 110: Oregon Measure 110 was a 2020 ballot initiative that decriminalized possession of small amounts of specified drugs and expanded treatment funding. Its implementation and later repeal illustrate political and practical challenges in state-level reform.
Drug-related stigma: Drug-related stigma is social discredit attached to people who use drugs or have substance use disorders. Reducing criminal labeling may affect stigma, but legal reform alone cannot eliminate it.
Harm reduction: Harm reduction consists of policies and services that reduce health and social harms without requiring abstinence. It can accompany decriminalization, but its services and goals are distinct from changing criminal penalties.
Civil penalty: A civil penalty is a noncriminal sanction imposed for a legal violation. Some systems replace criminal punishment for possession with fines or other civil sanctions.

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