The UN has selected its incoming secretary general will be Kevin Rudd former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres, who was in power when drugs were decriminalised in 2001.
More: Legalising weed will violate international treaties
Guterres – who held office in Portugal from 1995-2002 – takes over from Ban Ki-moon from January next year.
In 2001 the Portuguese Government decriminalised all drugs in response to what was deemed a “rising drug problem”, in a move pushed forward by Guterres and his Socialist Party.
The move was controversial: it had never been done in the Western world and fears regarding rampant drug use among the Portuguese people surrounded the debate.
Despite said fears, the country went through with decriminalisation, which, several years down the line, has proven to be a great success.
With Guterres committed to preventing crises around the world (rather than managing them), and with his reputation as a strong leader in the face of criticism, we’re sure he’ll do juuuust fine.
Read more about Portugal’s progressive drug policy here.
