Nowadays, with the green wave that is sweeping the whole world, it is good to specify that legalization, decriminalization e liberalization they are not synonymous, on the contrary, they indicate legislative processes with completely different effects. Let's learn to distinguish them by making the appropriate clarifications.
Legalization
Adopted by the majority of states that choose to abandon the path of repression, legalization refers to regulation of a substance and of the market that will flourish, and authorizes its cultivation, production and sale.
An example is the Canada which legalized cannabis in 2018 and recorded enormous benefits. From economic to social ones. From millions of dollars in profit to the decline in deaths from opioid overdoses which, unlike cannabis, claim thousands of victims every year.
Decriminalization
Decriminalize a substance It doesn't mean making it legal. Decriminalization simply transforms criminal offenses into administrative offenses.
This means that: anyone who consumes or possesses the decriminalized substance, always in the quantities foreseen by the provision, does not risk a prison sentence but a administrative sanction which can go as far as license suspension.
The decriminalization of a drug is often accompanied by a decrease in consumption of the substance itself. This happened because removing that veil of prohibition makes you lose the desire and fun of approaching it, especially for the younger population.
Portugal bears witness to this, after having decriminalized all drugs, without exception, in 2001, noticed a clear reduction in their use.
Liberalization
Even if no state has yet taken this path, the liberalization of a substance eliminates previously imposed restrictive regulations. As the word itself says: la sets you free, recognizes the market but is not involved in regulating it.
