(Prevalence of Use by Portuguese Youth Compared With Others in EU) "In ESPAD [European school survey project on alcohol and other drugs] 2011 once more cannabis was the drug that presented the higher lifetime prevalence of use (16%) a value closer to lifetime prevalence of any drug (19%). Between 2007 and 2001 increased the lifetime prevalence of use of any drug (from 14% to 19%), decreases were verified in the prevalence of use of all drugs with the exception of heroin.

(Portugal's National Drug Control Strategy) "This strategy specifies eight principles, which embody a set of values that should guide interventions in this area. ‘Humanism’, for example, is the recognition of the inalienable human dignity of citizens, including drug users, and translates into a commitment to offer a wide range of services to those in need and to adopt a legal framework that causes no harm to them.

Laws & Policies

(Development of Portugal's National Plan for the Reduction of Addictive Behaviors and Dependences) "The National Plan for the Reduction of Addictive Behaviors and Dependences 2013-2020, (PNRCAD), appears in the sequence of an end of cycle of the National Plan Against Drug and Drug Addictions 2005-2012 (PNCDT) and the redefinition of policies and health services.

(Perceptions of Risk from Drug Use Among Youth In Portugal) "According to the results of the Flash Eurobarometer – Youth attitudes on drugs held in 2011 among young Europeans of 15-24 years, the perceptions of health risk associated with the use of drugs varied according the substances and the frequency of their use.

(Prevalence of Drug Use Among Youth in Portugal, 2011) "In the context of school populations, the results of national studies have shown that the use of drugs that had been increasing since the 90’s declined for the first time in 2006 and 2007, noting up in 2010 and 2011 again an increase of drug use in these populations, alerting to the need for investment in prevention.

(Drug Offender Convictions and Sentencing in Portugal 2012) "Of the 2 051 convicted individuals under the Drug Law (2,041 in 2011, 770 in 2010, 1,684 in 2009, 1,392 in 2008 and 1,420 in 2007), 80% were convicted for traffic, 19% for use and 1% for traffic-use. The focus goes to the increase in the proportion of individuals convicted by use since 2008, related with the fixation of case law on situations for own use in superior amount than the required for the average individual use during a period of 10 days (Supreme Court of Justice n. o 8/2008, of 5 August).

(Drug-Related Mortality in Portugal 2011) "According to the EMCDDA protocol in 2011 were registered 10 cases of drug-related deaths, representing the lowest value since 2006 and a decrease of 62% in relation to 2010.

(Trends in HIV/AIDS Related to Injection Drug Use in Portugal) "According to 31/12/2011, notification data (analytical tests) from the National Health Institute Doutor Ricardo Jorge (INSA, I.P.), the decreasing trend concerning the percentage of drug users in the total number of notified HIV positive cases continues to be reported. From the 41,035 notifications received since 1983, near 39% (41% in 2010, 42% in 2009 and 2008, 44% in 2007 and 45% in 2006) were drug use related.

(Trends in HIV/AIDS and Injection Drug Use in Portugal) "Taking only 2011, from the notified cases of HIV diagnosed at 31/12/2011, the cases associated to drug addiction represented 10% of the total diagnosed cases in the different stadiums of the infection: 17% of the AIDS cases, 8% Symptomatic Non-AIDS and 6% of the asymptomatic carriers cases.

(Opioid Substitution Therapy in Portugal 2011) "A survey made each year on the 31st of December 2011 allows differentiation in terms of substances involved in this type of treatment.
"On that date, 21,236 clients were registered in the outpatient public treatment network substitution programs, representing a decrease in relation to 2010.
"From those 78% (77% in 2010, 76% in 2009, 75% in 2008 and 74% in 2007) were registered in methadone programs and 22% (23% in 2010, 24% in 2009, 25% in 2008 and 26% in 2007) in buprenorphine programs.