João Goulão Receives the Norman E. Zinberg Award for Achievement in the Field of Medicine
Channel: Drugreporter
Date: 06/11/2013

SICAD (the Service Intervention in Addictive Behaviors and Dependencies) and its general director Dr. João Castel-Branco Goulão are the recipients of the Norman E. Zinberg Award for Achievement in the Field of Medicine, which recognizes medical and treatment experts who perform rigorous scientific research and who have the courage to report their findings even though they may be at odds with current dogma.

Serviço de Intervenção nos Comportamentos Aditivos e nas Dependências (SICAD) is an agency in Portugal's Ministry of Health that is directly responsible for the implementation of the country's national drug strategy. Its mission is to promote the reduction of harms related to drug misuse and drug addiction. In 2001, Portugal enacted one of the most extensive drug law reforms in the world when it decriminalized low-level possession and use of all illegal drugs and significantly expanded treatment and harm reduction services, including access to sterile syringes, methadone maintenance therapy and other medication-assisted treatments. After more than a decade, the Portuguese experience demonstrates that decriminalization -- alongside a serious investment in treatment and harm reduction services -- can significantly improve public safety and health.

Dr. João Castel-Branco Goulão is the general director of SICAD and the Portuguese national drug coordinator. He was a member of the Portuguese committee that prepared the 1998 report on which the first Portuguese drug strategy, which included decriminalization, was based. Dr. Goulão has been centrally involved in both crafting and implementing Portugal's health-based drug policies and has been invited to present on the Portuguese model in numerous other countries. Dr. Goulão has also served as the Chairman of the Management Board of the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction since 2010.
#drugpolicy #harmreduction #drugs #humanrights #decriminalisation #drogok #drogpolitika #ártalomcsökkentés

This video is produced by the Rights Reporter Foundation, a non-profit organisation, which is not supported by any governments or political parties. If you like our shows, please support our work on our website, https://drugreporter.net/support/.  Make a donation today and become our supporting member. Thank you!

A Drogriportert üzemeltető Jogriporter Alapítvány közhasznú tevékenységet folytat, az állam vagy politikai pártok támogatása nélkül. Ha szeretnéd, hogy a jövőben is legyen egy józan hang a drogpolitika terén, kérjük támogasd munkánkat és legyél pártolüó tagunk itt: https://drogriporter.hu/tamogass/