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VISION

SCRIPT

Add a Lisbon Drone shot at the top with natsot from the festival underneath.

Your story title should come up on the drone shot.

TEXT:

WINNING THE WAR ON DRUGS

Michelle Rimmer and Adam Rosenberg

1.      

210425 Part 2-2
Freedom Day March - start with the best and brightest vision of the march - the dancers, and drummers?

UPSOT --- FREEDOM DAY PARADE DRUMS, PEOPLE DANCING

3.      

210425 Part 2-2

UPSOT --- FREEDOM DAY PARADE CHANTING

“25th of April always. Racism never again”

4.      

210425 Part 2-2
People handing out coronations in the street

VO: Today is Freedom Day in Portugal, a national holiday that celebrates the country’s shift from authoritarian rule to democracy in 1974.

PARADE UPSOTS

** STAY WITH THE PARADE HERE. ADD ANOTHER 30 SECONDS OF SOTS AND PICTURES. ANY GRABS OR CHANTS FROM PEOPLE THAT SAY SOMETHING ABOUT CIVIL LIBERTIES AND POLITICAL FREEDOMS. USE THIS TO REALLY ESTABLISH A SENSE OF PLACE, AND THE JOY THAT COMES FROM FREEDOM.

**KEEP THE AUDIO OF THE PARADE RUNNING OVER THIS, ALTHOUGH SHOTS HERE SHOULD BE OF TIAGO AND MICHELLE WALKING TOGETHER. WE WANT IT TO FEEL LIKE THEY’VE JUST STEPPED AWAY FROM THE PARADE TO HAVE A CHAT.

VO: Away from the parade - local artist Tiago agrees to show me what freedom in Portugal looks like today.

7.      

210425 Part 1-1
Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

TIAGO: [01:15:53] I was born in ‘72, after that OK, so now we can have a good fun, we can do people free, let’s do it! *throws hands up in the air*

8.

210425 Part 2-2
@01:08:40

MUSIC UPSOT - BUSKER PLAYING ACCORDION

10.      

SHOW PICTURES OF PEOPLE SMOKING HERE, BEFORE MICHELLE AND TIAGIO SIT ON BENCH AND TALK

210425 Part 1-1
Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

Cut with vision of people smoking joints

*Tiago and Michelle sitting at lookout chat*

MICHELLE: [47:45] Looking around here we can see people, it looks like they’re smoking joints quite openly here in the public, are they likely to get in trouble?

TIAGO: [47:49] No they don’t. It’s natural.

[38:03] Everybody smokes joints with normality.

[39:05] Imagine, we are here, if I want to smoke, I would do it right now, no problem.

11.   

More Portugal tourist shots


GVs vision of people on the grass Portugal smoking joints


210420 Part 1-1
Michelle and Tiago arriving at his ceramics workshop

-VO:

Portugal was the first country in the world to decriminalise drug use in 2001…

And for the last 20 years people here have been living an experiment.

I’m in Lisbon to find out what Australia can learn from Portugal’s radical approach.

12.   

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict
*In situ Michelle and Tiago arriving at his ceramics workshop*

TIAGO: [01:27:20] Welcome to my place, of pottery, where I work. You’re welcome.

13.   

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

TIAGO: [01:34:20] This is what I do normally, useful, coloured pottery. Okay. These are the dishes. For instance, these dishes are completely unique. Nobody does nothing like this.

14.   

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago showing Michelle his work

VO: Tigao is a well-known potter in Lisbon. 

15.   

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago sits down at crack smoking table

VO: He’s also not afraid to admit he’s a long-time drug user.

16.   

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

*In-situ Tiago sitting down at crack-smoking table*

TIAGO: [01:08:09] The first time I smoked hash, I was 16 maybe. And heroin, first time I smoked it, I was 18.

But then becomes the regular using of heroin and crack. And that doesn't stop anymore

17.   

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

MICHELLE: [01:19:26] How often do you smoke Crack cocaine?

TIAGO: [00:49:07] I smoke it every day

18.   

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

TIAGO: [51:11] *holding up makeshift pipe* Pipe, the professional one.

20.   

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

MICHELLE:  [01:22:08]

If the police were to walk in now and saw you preparing to smoke, would you get in trouble?

TIAGO: [01:22:14] No.

MICHELLE: [01:22:15] What would happen?

21.   

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

TIAGO: [01:01:30] Normally what happens; ‘What are you doing?’ ‘I'm smoking.’ ‘You only have that. Yeah, for sure. Can I see it? Of course you can. They see, okay. I only have that. Normally they give you back, go away.”

22.   

210420 Part 1-1

*In-situ Tiago preparing his pipe to smoke*

VO: Under Portugal’s decriminalised drug policy, it’s not considered a crime to have up to 10-days worth of drugs for personal use.

For marijuana that’s 25 grams.

For cocaine it’s 2 grams

And for heroin it’s 1 gram.

23.   

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict


NOTE: This is Tiago’s attempt at explaining the Dissuasion Commission

TIAGO: [01:04:50] “Okay. You are a user , no problem”. You go home a few days later, you go to [01:04:57] //  [01:05:24] a place where they help you. So if they don't charge you, they don't arrest you, they help your treatment. Okay. They try to convince you to a treatment program, and that’s what they do.” [01:05:35]

24.   

Michelle leaving Tiago + going to commission

VO: In Australia, Tiago could be sent to prison for two years for the drugs in his possession today.

But here in Portugal Police would instead send him to the Commission for the Dissuasion of Drug Addiction - for help.

26.   

210422 Part 2-2
Nuno Capaz, Dissuasion Commission

*In-situ Michelle walking in the door of the discussion commission and being greeted by Nuno*

MICHELLE: [36:43]: Hi Nuno.

NUNO: Hi. It's nice to meet you.

MICHELLE: Nice to meet you. I'm Michelle.

NUNO: Welcome. I'm Nuno, one of the members here of the Dissuasion Commission. Welcome.

27.   

Nuno gives Michelle a welcome tour of the commission office space.

VO: Nuno Capaz was given the task of starting the specialist drugs tribunal...and has been in charge ever since.

28.   

210422 Part 2-2
Nuno Capaz, Dissuasion Commission

*Seated IV*

Cover parts with cuts to vision inside the commissioning eg: “End the War of Drugs” sign , health signs etc.

NUNO: [55:00] When we decriminalized drug usage in Portugal, we decided to decriminalize all drugs, from cannabis to heroin and everything in between, all the illicit substances are dealt in exactly the same way.

NUNO: [43:50] What we mean by decriminalizing, it's not the same thing as regulating or legalizing, decriminalizing means that we no longer treat it as a criminal offense, but it's still an illegal activity, so we deal with it as an administrative offense. Very similar to driving without the seatbelt or talking on the mobile phone while driving.

29.   

210422 Part 2-2
Nuno Capaz, Dissuasion Commission

*Seated IV*

NUNO: [45:04] We do not apply criminal sanctions, we do not apply jail sentences for example and so the person doesn't get a criminal record out of this procedure.

30.   

FILE: Anonymous vision of people at the commission from Jan Fran’s Feed piece in 2018

VO:  Instead of appearing before a judge, people found using drugs in Portugal meet with a panel of health experts and social workers.

The emphasis is on treatment not punishment, although repeat offenders can be fined.

31.   

210422 Part 2-2
Nuno Capaz, Dissuasion Commission

*Seated IV*

NUNO: [59:15] 90% of the people that use illicit substances do it because they like it and 10% do it because they are addicted to the substance. So, there's no penalty that will stop people from liking it or stop people from being addicted to it. You have to give people other options apart from just a simple penalty, because normally drug users do not perceive using an illicit substance as something wrong.

32.   

Drone of Casal Ventoso


210427 Part 1-1
GVs of rundown Casal Ventoso

VO: So why did Portugal embark on this radical approach to drugs?

33.   

210427 Part 1-1

Michelle PTC Casal Ventoso hill

PTC: [04:47] This neighbourhood is Casal Ventoso. These streets may seem quiet now, but up until the early 2000s this hill was filled with hundreds of people queuing to buy drugs. 

34.

Continue archive of people queueing in street to buy drugs


SIC ARCHIVE 03:16 There’s a shot of someone injecting heroin into a mates neck

VO: When democracy arrived in 1974 so did access to the outside world.

Along with new prosperity came an influx of drugs.

By the 90s, one in ten people were using heroin.

And Casal Ventoso was home to the biggest open-air drug market in Europe.

35.

210427 Part 1-1

**SUBTITLES NEEDED**

Jose voxie, hanging out his window

Cover cuts with wides + archive

Subreel 1 Grab 1JOSE VOX: [46:03] Casal Ventoso became infamous at the time.  When people heard about Casal Ventoso, they were afraid of it, of course. [00:46:11]

Subreel 1 Grab 2[31:21]  They came here, from right, down there, to buy drugs. Even some great public figures. [00:31:33] 

36.   

210427 Part 1-1
Wide of Jose looking out his window onto the street

VO: Jose Silva has lived here for forty years. He tells me that he would regularly see people overdose on drugs right here outside his front window.

37.   

210427 Part 1-1
**SUBTITLES NEEDED**

Subreel 1 Grab 4 JOSE VOX: [35:46]  Every day. They would stand at that bus stop and ambulances would come. [00:36:02]   Others would just die there.

38.   

210427 Part 1-1
Modern day Casal Ventoso

VO: On average, one person in Portugal was dying from a drug overdose every single day.

These local women saw neighbours succumb to their addictions...from shop owners to students...

39.   

210427 Part 1-1

Older lady voxies on the street

**SUBTITLES NEEDED**

Subreel 1 Grab 5

PALMIRA VOX: [01:07:36] They would be found dead around, behind those houses down there. They would appear dead there. [01:07:42] 

Subreel 1 Grab 6

MARIA VOX: [01:00:36] Everybody was here, looking for someone to buy drugs. That’s what it was like. 

PALMIRA VOX: And then they would hang around here, after taking drugs. We could see everything. [01:00:48]  

40.   

Voxie ladies walking off down the street


Drone vision of Michelle driving car


Michelle driving

VO:
I’m heading to the seaside town of Grandola, south of Lisbon, to meet a former addict who was lucky to survive.

41.   

210424 Part 1-1
Michelle car pulling up + getting out of car and walking into Ze’s house.

Michelle and Jose meet.

**car pulling up outside Ze’s house + Michelle getting out and walking to house**

IN-SITU Meeting:

MICHELLE: [02:18:48] Hi Jose

JOSE: Hello Michelle, how are you?

MICHELLE: Nice to meet you, good thank you

JOSE: Nice to meet you too

42.   

Michelle and Jose walking inside

VO: Jose Dias da Cunha was 19 years old when Portugal was liberated from authoritarian rule.

43.   

210424 Part 1-1
José Dias da Cunha, Former Addict

*In-situ talking at table*

JOSE: [32:17] With the revolution and with the independence of the colonies, there was lots of Portuguese that came from Angola and they brought weed.

44.   

210424 Part 1-1
José Dias da Cunha, Former Addict

*In-situ talking at table*

JOSE: [33:13] And I had friends that brought over hashish from Morocco. So, I tried that also. And then a friend of mine, I was on a booze night and he introduced me to coke, it's like a miracle. The alcohol went away, so I could balance alcohol with coke, and then **hand gesture to suggest it escalated**

46.   

210424 Part 1-1
José Dias da Cunha, Former Addict

*Seated IV*

JOSE: [01:08:40]

I was smoking heroin, I was chasing the dragon a lot.

JOSE:(01:06:44)  But the problem is that I could never stop. I could never say, "Wow, this is messing up my life. My studies, my personal relations are being messed up."

48.   

210424 Part 1-1
José Dias da Cunha, Former Addict
*Seated IV*

JOSE: [01:13:29] I had a friend that died in prison with AIDS. We used to use together a lot, and he ended up being arrested and going to jail and dying in jail with AIDS.

VO: Jose was high on heroin when his first child was born.

50.      

210424 Part 1-1
José Dias da Cunha, Former Addict

JOSE: [01:21:17] I could see my life was a mess. I could see that I was not going to be a good father to my daughter.

[01:21:25] I definitely wanted to change, I wanted to find a way, because I wanted to find myself, and so I was looking for a way out.

210424 Ze Table PT

ZE TABLE UPSOT: 06:45: ZE - I’ll pass the salmon to you 06:47

51.      

Jose at lunch table talking to Michelle

VO:
Jose had wealthy parents who sent him to London for rehab. It worked, and on his return to Portugal he set up one of the first drug treatment centres in the country.

He recently retired as its director - but maintains a close relationship with current staff.

dtecnica@att.org.pt

Assuncao Cruz, Farol Treatment Centre Medical Director

Assuncoa Cruz: [35:39]. Now we have a very different kind of patients. Lots of patients with cannabis problems.

53.      

210424 Part 1-1
Portugal GVs ambulance + police in the streets 

 
210426 Part 1-1
(27:28) Andrea getting out of car and walking around to the boot

VO: Jose was at the forefront of a major shift in Portugal.

To tackle the crisis, health and recovery became central to drug policy - rather than criminalisation.

54.   

210426 Part 1-1

Andreia Alves, Outreach Social Worker

*In-situ Michelle walks over to car and meets Andrea and Martino*

**IN-SITU MEETING**

MICHELLE: [27:34] Hi.

ANDREA: Hello

MICHELLE:  Michelle. Nice to meet you.

ANDREA: Nice to meet you. Andrea. My colleague Martino.

55.   

210426 Part 1-1
Andrea opens boot of car @23:36

@29:31 close up Andrea getting her kit out of boot

VO: To see this policy in action, I’m meeting Andreia - a government funded social worker who provides support for drug users.

56.   

210426 Part 1-1

Andreia Alves, Outreach Social Worker

ANDREA: [31:18] It’s a big difference between the past and after the decriminalization. In the past, it was not possible to have all this work and all the support to people who use drugs, because in the past, this people was seen as people that should be in the jail, like criminals. And now they are seen like they are people that need help, that have a problem, a health problem that have to have a support, a health support, the psychological and the social support. So, we change the kind of approach that we give to the people.

61.   

210426 Part 1-1

*In-situ Andrea at car giving user foil*

**SUBTITLES NEEDED**

ANDREA: [23:21] “What else you need? Nothing else?”
 

ADDICT: [23:23] “No, no, thanks.” 

ANDREA: [23:24] “Ok, see you tomorrow. [23:25]

57.   

210426 Part 1-1

Andrea, Michelle and Martino walking through bushes to needle collection area @40:50

VO: Today Andreia’s team is visiting known drug-use locations to collect used syringes.

58.   

210426 Part 1-1

Andreia Alves, Outreach Social Worker


*In-situ Andrea collecting needles from the ground*

ANDREA: [49:13]: When people don't have access to a needle, they can pick one from the ground and use. In the past it was really normal, this kind of behavior.

MICHELLE [46:33]: How many needles would you usually find in a place like this?

ANDREA: I don't know, 10, 20 in each place every day, sometimes more.

59.   

210426 Part 1-1
Vision of ground covered in vilas and syringes @51:40

Upsot - of Michelle

60.   

210426 Part 1-1


Andreia Alves, Outreach Social Worker



Cover last answer with vision of Michelle, Andrea and Martino walking through grassland back to car @51:16

ANDREA: [44:46] Diseases are going down. And it's really clear if you look to the, statistics, you can see that in the year of the change of the law, between 2001, the number of people that get HIV or other disease, like Tuberculosis, this kind of disease, it's going down till today.

ANDREA: [45:34] I think this trend has happened because we... all the service that are working in harm reduction, start to provide help to the people that are using drugs in the streets.

67.   

Portugal street GVs / not tourist - more ‘local population’ looking healthy

VO:
Since Portugal decriminalised drug use - the number of people using heroin has reduced by 75 percent.

It now has the lowest drug-related death-rate in Western Europe, and drug use among young people is below the European average.

***POLICE RAID FOOTAGE (NOT OUR RUSHES)

CONTINUE RAID FOOTAGE

VO: But while drug use is down - smuggling and dealing is still a problem in Portugal.

Police drug squads conduct 2000 raids a year - like this one - to catch and prosecute dealers.

**VISION SET PRE DAWN SCENE… DARK STREETS MICHELLE WALKING TO MEET SILVA WHEN DARK**

210422 Part 1-2

Exteriors of Police station in darkness + Michelle walking in, in the dark

VO: It’s pre-dawn, and I’m meeting Lisbon’s police as they prepare to search the home of a suspected dealer.

Commissioner Nelson Silva has agreed to take us along.

SILVA: [12:12]  So this is the headquarters of the city centre police. We have regular police patrolling, riot unit, and this is my service, criminal investigation, [12:22] about robberies, scams and in this case we are going to do a drug dealing job, ok? 12:29 Let’s go. [12:31]

VO: Today’s team is made up of undercover officers from Lisbon’s criminal investigations unit.

They agreed to be filmed - but we can’t show their faces.

13:02 Silva [13:02] This is the team for the grab-and-go operation. This is my fellow Mr Praida is that correct, Mr Paida? from a special unit to grab a dog that we know is inside the house.

VO:  Decriminalising drug use means police are no longer tied-up chasing users and can instead focus their efforts on catching the big fish in the drug world.

210422 Part 1-2
Nelson Silva, Lisbon Police Commissioner
**Keep this shot tight, as it’s in the wrong room**

SILVA: [16:30] We are keeping seizing drugs day-by-day-by-day. So it is increasing, yes it is.

210422 Part 1-2
@01:04:21 Wide of commissioner Silva showing Michelle photos of past drug busts on wall

210422 Part 1-2
Nelson Silva, Lisbon Police Commissioner
Cover cuts with photos of the drugs busts on the wall

*In-situ Silva showing Michelle photos of drug busts on the wall*

SILVA: [01:05:43] This here, we have 30kg of cocaine, 10kg of MDMA...

SILVA: [01:05:33] The last image is 700kg of Hashish.

MICHELLE: [01:06:32] For every bag of marijuana that is confiscated, how many bags of marijuana do you think are sold?

SILVA: [01:06:38] Thousands. MICHELLE: Thousands? SILVA: Yes, yeah.

210422 Part 1-2
Team in debrief room -- blur faces of officers not Commissioner Silva

VO: It’s now 7am and the officers are ready to strike.

210422 Part 1-2
Nelson Silva, Lisbon Police Commissioner
*In-situ: Silva giving team a pre-raid pep-talk*

SILVA: [14:43] We have search warrants to do so, let’s go do the work, and everybody safe back, OK?

90.   

**GETTING FROM THE POLICE STATION TO THE RAID SEQUENCE.**

IN CAR

VO:
The police have had a tip-off from a user that someone is selling drugs in a tourist area of Lisbon.

94.      

Cover with vision of me looking at Commissioner Silva in the car

SILVA: [20:31] It’s a good information, it’s a good information point for us.

95.      

ARRIVING + CHECKING FOR DOG SEQUENCE

[23:17] **car pulls up - handbrake noise - SILVA: “Just let me see if they grabbed the dog….just a moment”.

**SILVA GETS OUT OF CAR**

[23:54] **Silva gets out of car, [24:01] *DOG BARK*

[24:07] *Loud dog bark* - use this bark under vision of Silva without me in the shot

**Silva gets crowbar out of boot and hands it to the other officers...

-Silva and officer propping open door with the prop thingo

- Silva on the phone

VO: The officers use a crow bar to break open the apartment door.

I’m told to stay back and wait outside for my safety.

@45:48 **SILVA talking on the phone… walks up to us and gives a gesture for us to stop filming**

SILVA: [32:24] Inside the house, I can’t allow to film, OK.

SILVA: [41:45] There is some drug substance, I don’t know the quantities.

- Guy taking photos @ 58:57

-Dog catchers opening the hatch of their car @38:12

VO: We aren’t allowed into the apartment...as drugs have been seized and it’s now a crime scene

-       Use these VO lines under cuts of dirty footage, fast cuts that make the scene feel as hectic as possible

SILVA: [01:02:46] **Silva walking up to us** “You can just do this passing OK…”

VO: .The person they have charged can not be filmed…

SILVA: [01:03:35] “Finish finish,finish” **camera swings**

SILVA: [01:03] Just don’t film.

[01:04:00] It’s just the guy is fully cooperating with us, OK...

98.      

210422 Part 1-2
Nelson Silva, Lisbon Police Commissioner
Michelle and Silva outside drug raid house

MICHELLE: [47:37] What has your team found inside the house?

SILVA: We have money, drugs, a scale and a mobile phone that was stolen during a drug dealing business in here.

VO: The police have seized small amounts of what they suspect is cannabis, MDMA, magic mushrooms and cannabis seeds.

99.      

210422 Part 1-2
Nelson Silva, Lisbon Police Commissioner

SILVA: [25:18] The person has a criminal record for drug trafficking. In this case, for international drug trafficking.

100.      

210422 Part 1-2
Nelson Silva, Lisbon Police Commissioner

[31:19] Selling, it’s a felony. He’s going to be arrested, he’s going for one day for sure, he goes to the jail, until he goes to be present in the court.

210422 Part 1-2
Nelson Silva, Lisbon Police Commissioner

MICHELLE: [39:04] How often do you do these sort of calls?

SILVA: [39:07] These kind of drugs it’s almost daily, yeah, it’s almost daily.

101.      

210422 Part 1-2
Nelson Silva, Lisbon Police Commissioner

MICHELLE: [48:19] Do you think it’s possible to stop the drug trade here entirely? Or is it something you will be chasing forever?

SILVA: [48:30] That is our aim, but it is very difficult to strangle a drug selling point, a drug selling network. You can arrest two or three persons // (48:50) but in the moment we arrest that people there’s already another one waiting for his time to go up in the rank.

102.      

Empty Portugal coronavirus GVs + police in the streets

VO: Night time curfews and border closures due to the coronavirus pandemic gave police a temporary leg-up on smugglers trying to get drugs into the country.

But as restrictions are lifted they’re losing that advantage.

103.      

210422 Part 1-2
Nelson Silva, Lisbon Police Commissioner

SILVA: [59:16] We can see that everyone is moving again, they are doing his connections again, they are doing the deals again.

104.      

210422 Part 1-2
@01:02:07

**drug task-force officer takes bag of drugs from house to the car** @[01:02:07]

105.      

210422 Part 1-2
@(01:11:24) Close-ups of the money being counted and photo taken of weed jar

**let this breathe**

VO: While the dealer’s arrested and taken into custody -- we go back to the police station to weigh and test the drugs seized.

106.      

210422 Part 1-2

*In-situ drug testing - police taking lid off weed jar and taking it out to test*

**Testing officer Luis taking lid off weed jar**

LUIS: [01:28:42] Oh you can smell it [01:28:45] MICHELLE: Yepp *nodding*
MICHELLE: [01:29:23] Does it always smell this strong?
LUIS: Yes, yes.
MICHELLE: Every time?
LUIS: Every time. And when we have a big bag with this - oh *laughs*.
MICHELLE: You feel a bit funny after?
LUIS: Yes, all the time, all day. *laughs*

107.      

210422 Part 2-2
Putting weed in test tube and showing positive result

**Police officer Luis puts weed in test tube jar, holds it up to show the liquid turn red**

LUIS: [01:30:28] Positive.

108.      

210422 Part 2-2

**Luis weighing and taking a photo of the drugs** 

109.      

210422 Part 2-2

LUIS: [23:41] This result told us that he’s passed the quantities of the drugs, so it's a crime. He goes in.

MICHELLE: He’s in trouble?

LUIS: He’s in trouble. [23:58]

VO:
Most of the drugs are sent to a lab for further testing - but the police have confirmed at least
45 grams of cannabis was seized.

That alone is more than 25 days worth of drugs for personal use.

The dealer will spend at least three months in prison - and could face a maximum of five years for trafficking.

AD  BREAK

VO: Portugal took an unprecedented step when it decriminalised drug use in 2001.

As a result, it went from being the drug capital of Europe - with one in ten people using heroin, to having one of the lowest drug-related death rates in the region.

The main architect of Portugal’s drug overhaul is Joao Goulão.

He’s the man other countries turn to for advice.

68.   

Michael and Joao meeting over Zoom

**Timecodes from: ZOOM CALL - MICHAEL & JOAO**

Cut with clean vision from:
210421 Part 1-1
Canberra Part 1-1

JOAO: [00:46] Hello. Good morning, Micheal.

MICHAEL: [00:52] Hello. Good Morning. Good Evening.

JOAO: [00:59] Good Evening, yeah.

MICHAEL: [01:07] Portugal is about as far away as you can go from Canberra.

69.   

 Australia drugs busts file - from SBS

LIB 280820 SNOWY MOUNTAINS DRUG BUST VNR_SBS_ID_11437594

04:34 - 05:28 - sequence: guy handcuffed, cops pull drugs out of pocket, take him off into divvy van

VO:
In Australia, illicit drug use is growing, and changing.

The Coronavirus pandemic has made it harder for users to access cocaine and heroin….while use of new, emerging drugs - thought to be more potent and deadly - has surged.

70.   

Canberra Part 1-1

Canberra dodgy looking street GVs

**SBS News or The Feed file:

LIB 310120 ACT CANNABIS PKG_SBS_ID_7801629

01:19 - 01:33  close up person smoking weed in pipe and a joint


Michael walking through Canberra CBD talking to people

Each state and territory decides its own drug laws..

And last year the A-C-T became the first jurisdiction to legalise the use and possession of small amounts of cannabis.

Then, in February, a bill was introduced that would follow in Portugal’s footsteps and decriminalise the possession of other illicit drugs.

The man behind it is ACT Labor backbencher Michael Petterson.

71.   

ZOOM CALL - MICHAEL & JOAO

Michael Pettersson, Labor MP ACT

Cut between Michael on Zoom + clean camera vision of him, so it’s clear he is talking to Joao

MICHAEL: [38:17] In practice, the way that system works is: police officers, when they come into contact with individuals that are using or possessing drugs, they confiscate the drugs, they direct that person to either an education program or a medical program. They don't send them through the criminal justice system.

MICHAEL [38:37]: Whereas, under our current laws, individuals are liable to go to jail for two years if they're caught in possession with substances.

73.   

ZOOM CALL - MICHAEL & JOAO

Michael Pettersson, Labor MP ACT

João Castel-Branco Goulão, Portugal’s Drugs Czar


Lay vision of Michael talking to people in Canberra over part of Michael’s Question?

MICHAEL: [14:20] When I talk about drug decriminalization in the ACT, the most common issues that are raised with me are people concerned that we're giving a green light to drug use, people are concerned there is going to be an increase in drug trafficking. When drugs were decriminalized in Portugal, did you find that?

JOAO: [14:34] Yes, the big difficulties that most conservative people faced at the time and verbalized was, "Okay, Portugal will become a paradise for drug users from all over Europe, and from all over the world, we will have drugs tourism.

JOAO: [16:28] Or, our children would start using drugs with the milk bottle in very early ages.

JOAO: [16:52] Nowadays, 20, 21 years later, we can say none of these problems happened.

74.   

Canberra Part 1-1

Cover parts of Joao’s answer with Canberra GVs

- eg. Red Cross flag waving @22:22
- Ambulance in the street @32:02

MICHAEL: [29:59] Do you have any advice for Australia and its states and territories in considering decriminalization?

JOAO: [30:07] The advice is mostly to have health and social responses available if you decide to do so. If people need any kind of help, I would like to have people having access to treatment, to harm reduction responses for free easily available, and this is key for the success of this kind of policy.

76.

210422 Part 2-2
Tights of methadone van handing out cups

QUICK NATSOT - **van handing out methadone cups**

77.   

210422 Part 2-2
Methadone van + Tiago

VO: Despite the progress that Portugal’s made in the last 20 years… the long-term impacts of drug dependence linger.

78.

210420 Part 1-1

Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

TIAGO: [11:11] Ola! *orders his methadone*

Hi. [I’m number] 9170. 120 [millilitres].

I'm from the other van

79.

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago lining up to get his methadone.

VO: This van drives around Lisbon giving out methadone to those suffering from heroin withdrawal symptoms.

80.

210420 Part 1-1

Tiago ordering + handed his cup.

VO: For Tiago, the potter, it’s a life raft.

81.   

210420 Part 1-1

Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

*In-situ Tiago taking methadone*

TIAGO: [11:33] 120 milligrams of methadone. Just feels like toothpaste, it’s very easy to take it.

**drinks the methadone**

[12:21] There's one that feels like banana toothpaste. This one it’s, I don’t know, bad vodka or something. Not vodka, but a mix between vodka and toothpaste.

82.   

210420 Part 1-1

Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

*In-situ Michelle and Tiago standing in front of methadone van*

TIAGO: [05:20] Because Methadone gives you  the tranquility, the normality for more than 20 hours.

MICHELLE: [04:59] What happens if you don't take it?

TIAGO: [17:27]] I'll go very, very bad, it's the worst thing in your life, it's a nightmare, you don't want to imagine. It's difficult to explain. You begin feeling uncomfortable. You get upset with everything. You cannot do nothing. You have no strength to wake up, to walk. It's so bad, it’s so bad, it's impossible.

TIAGO: [15:35] I doing drugs for thirty years. If I have three or four hangovers in my life, it's too much. Because I was so afraid of that.

85.   

210420 Part 1-1

Michelle and Tiago sitting down talking

VO: While methadone suppresses Tiago’s heroin addiction...it doesn’t help with his dependence on other drugs.

So why hasn’t the world’s most progressive approach to drugs helped Tiago kick his addiction?

Tiago: [18:41] I don't know. I don't know why I use drugs, I think it's very difficult to say. So if it was possible, I will continue smoking drugs till I get tired. So I want to feel lonely. I think I'm happy. So I don't know, I don't know what I need.

87.   

SBS News / The Feed file - drug use in Australia




Portugal dusk / dodgy graffiti GVs


210420 Part 1-1
Tiago wide and tight cuts from sit down IV

VO:

Tiago would like to see further reforms, with illicit drugs legalised completely - similar to the sale of alcohol.

Tiago says it would take away the power drug dealers have.

But there is widespread opposition to legalisation because of fears it would encourage more people to experiment with harmful substances and fuel addictions.

88.   

210420 Part 1-1
Tiago Praca, Potter and Addict

TIAGO: [31:30] Is this what society wants to support, dealers?

TIAGO: [31:40] The producers on the other side of the road earn one euro a day and then you give 400 for a dealer and then he broke your teeth and you cannot do nothing.

MICHELLE: [31:59] So for you, legalization would stop that business, that underground industry?

TIAGO: [37:25]: Of course, of course..

110.   

Portugal GVs intercut with shots of Michelle walking through Lisbon streets

VO: Two decades since Portugal took the unprecedented step of decriminalising drugs -- a lot has changed -- but not every problem is solved.

Drug addiction and dependence is still rife here on the streets of Lisbon, and the underground drug trade is thriving.

But many lives have been changed -- and potentially saved -- by putting health at the centre of drug policy.

111.   

210424 Part 1-1
José Dias da Cunha, Former Addict

Jose on the couch looking through his photo book

JOSE: [01:33:28] My life, I think it's quite normal.

[01:34:45] I developed, perhaps, a more healthy addiction to biking. I bike a lot.

112.   

210424 Part 1-1
José Dias da Cunha, Former Addict

Michelle and Ze sitting down on couch  looking through his photo books

JOSE: [02:09:22] This is my bike.*showing picture of bike in photo book*

JOSE: [02:14:01] Fortunately all my checkups are very good. I'm very good in terms of health, and I think, cycling... It's one of the reasons I'm healthy.

113.   

210424 Part 1-1

Photo of Jose with his grandkids and family

JOSE: [01:33:50] As I told you, my daughter was born, I was still using. Then I had two sons. Now I have four grandchildren.

114.      

210424 Part 1-1

MICHELLE: [01:53:17] When you were 28 years old, at the peak of your addiction, did you ever think that you would have the life that you do now?

115.      

210424 Part 1-1

José Dias da Cunha, Former Addict

JOSE: [01:35:27] No, at 28 I was completely lost. I didn't see the light at the end of the tunnel, as they used to say. It was difficult to foresee, and my outlook on life was very dim. I had doubts, I had lots of anxiety about if I could make it, if I couldn't make it, and if I could really be successful in anything in my life. Because when I first stopped using drugs my self-esteem was very low. Very low.

JOSE: [01:36:06]: So I had to put some work in it. To work, to do a normal life. I mean, it worked very well, I'm very grateful, and I'm very grateful to all the people that, within this road, helped me to get along.

116.      

210424 Part 1-1

José Dias da Cunha, Former Addict

MICHELLE: [01:53:28] What would be your message to people that are struggling through addiction and that don't see a future for themselves?

117.      

210424 Part 1-1

José Dias da Cunha, Former Addict

Cover parts with Ze walking with his dogs

JOSE: [01:36:40] First of all, they need to have the desire to stop. That's the main thing. Some people, unfortunately, they don't have the desire, and they die along the way. But if you have the desire, it's possible for anybody to find help and to overcome this illness.

118.      

 
##### ENDS ######

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Next week on Dateline

When Myanmar's military ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi millions took to the streets. Dateline meets young protesters risking everything for their future.

And up next...the Feed

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