Bermuda could benefit from loosening off its drugs laws, an Australian expert said yesterday.

Dr Caitlin Hughes — author of a major study on Portugal’s liberal drugs regime — said: “The evidence is very striking that it’s reduced the rates of drug use in the general population and particularly reduced rates among those aged 15-24.

“This is the key population we would want to reduce drug rates and achieve a significant reduction in rates of drug-related harm.”

Dr Hughes, a research fellow at the Australian National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, based at the University of New South Wales, was speaking as she prepared to speak at yesterday’s major Centre for Justice conference on human rights.

Dr Hughes, a criminologist, studied the effects of the decriminalisation of all drugs in Portugal in 2001 and a decision to view drug use as a medical problem and its impact on Portuguese society.

She said that the Portuguese experience showed that — in addition to falling drug use — the country had seen drops in the rates of drug-related conditions like HIV and a greater willingness by drug users to discuss their problem and seek treatment. Dr Hughes added: “There has also been a reduction in the burden on the criminal justice system — that’s saved a lot of time and money and it’s also halved the number of people sent to prison for minor drugs offences.

“That has allowed police to concentrate on drug traffickers — it’s been incredibly positive. All around, it shows this is one very good example of a nation which was prepared to take a risk.”

And Dr Hughes said: “From my understanding of the Bermuda context, there are very many parallels.”

Dr Hughes spoke at the Justice Today: Human Rights Since Emancipation conference, which marks the 180th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Bermuda and which started yesterday morning at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute on East Broadway.

Chief Justice Ian Kawaley was the keynote speaker at the event, which examined the development of human rights since the British Government ordered an end to slavery in 1834, and focused on Centre for Justice’s themes of civil liberties and the administration of justice. Government in May signalled that possession of small amounts of cannabis for personal use was likely to be decriminalised and on-the-spot cautions given by police instead, although it ruled out full legalisation.

The move followed a major review of Bermuda’s cannabis laws by an independent group, which called for medical marijuana to be made available immediately, decriminalisation and the eventual legalisation of the drug.

Dr Hughes said: “Decriminalisation then moving up — that sounds like quite a sensible move. She added that Bermuda could learn from US states like Colorado and Washington State, both of which have legalised cannabis for recreational use and its use as a medicine.

Dr Hughes said: “There is a good rationale to see if we can decriminalise now and make a real difference, then wait and see what can be learned from Colorado and Washington — then Bermuda would be in a very good situation to see what kind of model would work best.

“We have got very strong evidence about decriminalisation now — the evidence about legalisation is still very new.” Dr Hughes added that in Australia there was “real concern” about the impact a drug conviction could have on employment prospects.

She said: “That’s a huge reason for changing the law, whether its decriminalisation or legalisation.

“The more we can keep very minor misdemeanour matters out of the court system the better, for so many different reasons.”