The leader of the Chega parliamentary group, Miguel Castro, stated that the objective is to restore the legal framework before 2023, “reestablishing the objective distinction between consumption and trafficking, prohibiting consumption in public spaces, and providing for the periodic technical update of psychoactive substances tables.”
The bill was approved with the votes in favor from the proponent and JPP, the largest opposition party in Madeira, which has 11 deputies.
The PSD and CDS-PP, the parties supporting the Regional Government in coalition, as well as PS and Liberal Initiative, abstained.
During the plenary debate, Miguel Castro, also the leader of Chega’s regional structure, argued that the current law has made it more difficult to distinguish between consumers and traffickers, creating “grey areas” and an imbalance in the system of combating trafficking, with an increase in consumption.
The deputy emphasized that the proposal aims to defend Portuguese society from the “social degradation caused by drug consumption and trafficking,” as well as “strengthen state authority and restore the balance between prevention, treatment, and penal repression.”
Miguel Castro also highlighted that the change in the regime of drug possession for personal use, with the reference limit increased from five to ten days of individual average consumption with law n.º 55/2023, resulted in a relaxation of the distinction between consumption and trafficking.
“The law practically eliminated the objective criterion that supported police and judicial action, undermining the state’s ability to effectively combat microtrafficking and maintain public order,” the Chega bill states.
In today’s plenary session, the PSD/CDS-PP majority rejected a PS proposal that recommended the regional executive resume negotiations with the Republic Government for the establishment of a therapeutic community in the former Madeira Educational Center, a state infrastructure located in the municipality of Santa Cruz, which has been closed since 2013.
Socialist deputy Marta Freitas recalled that about 1,000 young people were admitted to health units due to drug consumption between 2012 and 2013, arguing that the creation of a therapeutic community would allow more effective treatment and monitoring.
“It’s time to give Madeira what the young people, families, and professionals are asking for,” she said, considering that “only political will is lacking to advance.”
The parliamentary groups of JPP and Chega supported the PS’s intention, although deputy Hugo Nunes (Chega) criticized the socialists for proposing something that essentially repeats a bill already approved in the regional parliament in 2024.
The sole CDS-PP deputy, Sara Madalena, pointed out that the bill for the creation of a therapeutic community in the region was presented by her party and unanimously approved in October 2024.
For PSD, deputy Joana Silva classified the PS initiative as “another attempt to set the political agenda” and noted that creating a therapeutic unit in the region does not gather expert consensus.
The social democrat argued that the region has access to the 53 national therapeutic communities through protocols, indicating that in the last two years, only 13 people from Madeira were treated in these units.
Joana Silva also warned that the transfer of the Madeira Educational Center supervision to the region will entail costs that should be evaluated against the number of users.
The sole deputy from IL, Gonçalo Maia Camelo, also warned about the cost of the facility, considering that “perhaps there are more effective solutions than a therapeutic community in the region.”
The liberal noted, on the other hand, that the former Madeira Educational Center, an infrastructure of the Ministry of Justice budgeted at 10 million euros, constitutes “another example of the state’s ruinous investment,” noting that it was built in 2005 but only operated for three years, between 2010 and 2013.
The bill was rejected by the PSD/CDS-PP majority, with votes in favor from the proponent party and abstentions from JPP, Chega, and IL.
