Australia should follow Portugal and decriminalise illicit drugs, criminal lawyers say. Following the recent Victorian Inquiry into Drug Law Reform, which cited the Portuguese model of treating drug use as a health issue rather than a criminal matter, lawyer Bill Doogue has urged Australia to adopt that country's approach. Portugal decriminalised the personal use of illicit drugs in 2001 in response to a heroin epidemic and a rise in hepatitis, HIV and drug-related deaths in the 1990s. Since decriminalisation, drug-related health problems and deaths in Portugal have dropped dramatically. HIV diagnoses attributed to drug injecting fell from 1016 in 2001 to 44 in 2015. Drug-related deaths halved from 80 in 2001 to 40 in 2015. The number of people arrested and sent to criminal courts for drug offences has declined by more than 60 per cent. Meanwhile, those who have voluntarily sought out drug treatment has risen by 60 per cent. Mr Doogue, of Doogue + George Defence Lawyers, says Australia's approach to drugs has been an "abject failure" and is "filling the prisons with addicts and lining the pockets of drug dealers". Australia should look to Portugal for its smart approach to drugs that gets help for those who need it, he said. "The Portugal model has now been in place for more than a decade and is heralded as a tremendous success by drug policy experts." Drug use in Portugal has declined since decriminalisation, especially among adolescents and problem drug users, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction's 2017 report. Substance use in Portugal is now low in comparison to the European average. Tania Wolff, manager and principal lawyer at First Step Legal, which provides legal services to clients with substance addiction issues, says the Portuguese example shows a health-based harm minimisation approach to drug reform works. "The war on drugs has been a war on drug addicts; those most needing our community's compassion and support. It's been misconceived from the start and a resounding global failure. "There's growing evidence not only in Portugal but in many other jurisdictions that we need to rethink our policy on this issue." The Victorian Inquiry into Drug Law Reform Committee visited Portugal as part of its overseas study tour to assess the impact of the reforms. It found the reforms had bipartisan support in the country and had led to improved outcomes across a range of social and health measures. In Canada, members of prime minister Justin Trudeau's ruling Liberal Party have called on the government to decriminalise the possession and consumption of all illicit drugs. They argued that framing drug use as a criminal justice issue rather than one of health has fuelled a lucrative black market, diverted resources from law enforcement and marginalised those who are often already on the margins of society.