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The Europeans | European news, politics and culture

Drugs policy: Who Does It Best?

The Europeans | European news, politics and culture

Katy Lee and Dominic Kraemer

Society & Culture, News

4.8274 Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Should weed be legalised? What about heroin? Set aside any previously held opinions and prepare a far-out trip! In the final episode of 'Who Does It Best?' producer Wojciech is taking us across the landscape of Europe’s drug policies. From 90s Portugal to the coffee shops of Amsterdam to a little pit stop in Uruguay(!), we’re taking a deep dive into which policies are the sanest and safest on offer.   MASSIVE THANKS: We want to give a HUGE shoutout to everyone who made this series possible. Our generous crowdfunders hit our goal within two months, making it possible for us to do extensive reporting fully independently. Our hearts are beyond full. Thank you.   BOOST THE SHOW: If you liked the series and want to help us spread the good word, we’ve prepared some social media posts that you can download and share. Here they are! We’d be eternally grateful if you influenced your followers with our snappy graphics ✨   DON’T QUIT WHILE YOU’RE AHEAD: If you’re feeling inspired to support The Europeans’ ongoing work, please go to patreon.com/europeanspodcast. You can drop us a few euros or dollars or francs or crowns or whatever the heck ya got.   Additional resources for this episode:  Research on Portugal’s decriminalization success story Amsterdam’s drop-in center AMOC Zuid    Written, reported and produced by: Wojciech Oleksiak Editor: Jasmin Baoumy  Editorial support: Dominic Kraemer, Katz Laszlo, Katy Lee, Morgan Childs Sound design: Jesse Lou Lawson Mixing and mastering: Wojciech Oleksiak Music and SFX: Jim Barne, Epidemic, FreeSound.org Artwork: RTiiiKA   Thanks to everyone who sat down with Wojciech to share their expertise, including Tom Decorte, Katrin Schiffer, Annika Apfel, Malu Salazar, Cedric Chervet, Adam Nowotarski, Peter Sarosi, Ferry, the De Barones crew, Reinoud van Delft, Gośka, Yahya, Leonie, AMOC clients Bouhz and Damian, Breda’s coffeeshop owners. Special thanks go to Leonie, Tom, Łukasz and Michał.   Stay safe out there! YouTube | Bluesky | Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | Mastodon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | [email protected]   00:00:43 Intro: Rockstar life and drugs00:09:55 Act I: Soft drugs, tolerance and the myth of legal weed00:23:15 Act II: You gotta regulate that thing!00:30:43 Act III: Total decriminalization00:49:05 Act IV: Legalise everything, regulate everything

Transcript

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0:00.0

This episode of the Europeans exists thanks to you, our amazing listeners.

0:06.1

Every bit of it was funded by your support.

0:08.9

Thank you all so, so much.

0:10.4

If you aren't donating yet, please consider supporting our independent journalism

0:15.1

by heading to patreon.com forward slash Europeans podcast.

0:46.9

Thank you. Hello everyone and welcome back to the Europeans.

0:54.1

This is the final episode of our crowdfunded series Who Does It Best, where we are trying to find out which countries have the smartest,

0:56.8

the most effective and the most imaginative policies in three key areas.

1:03.1

So far, our own producer Katzlaslo guided us through the jungle of housing market issues.

1:10.1

She was followed by our wonderful guest Slovenian radio reporters

1:14.1

who tried to figure out where it is best to raise your children in Europe these days.

1:20.6

And today, well, to be honest, I don't really know what to expect from today,

1:26.0

but we're going to be talking about

1:27.6

drugs policy.

1:33.9

One thing I know is that the guide for today is our Warsaw-based producer, Vojik.

1:38.9

Alexiak, hi, Vojchev.

1:41.0

Hi, hello.

1:42.1

And we decided it would be fun to make it a bit of a group hang today.

1:46.5

So we're also joined by Katz Laslo.

1:49.3

Hi, Katz.

1:52.2

Nice you could join us.

1:53.9

Hello.

...

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