If you got caught smoking weed in Portugal before 2001, you may as well have been anywhere else in the world. The punishment was comparable to most other nations: a fine or up to three years in prison. But now, things are different. Portugal decriminalized personal possession of drugs in 2001, drastically changing the way drug offenders are dealt with. Now, offenders are no longer arrested and sentenced. Instead, their drugs are confiscated, and offenders attend a panel hearing with a social worker, a psychologist, and a legal advisor to determine appropriate treatment, which the offender may voluntarily reject.

It’s an unorthodox arrangement, and it was controversial in its inception. But a recent study by the Cato Institute (outlined by Time Magazine) examined drug use in Portugal since 2001, and the results seem quite positive. The study found that drug use has decreased across the board, as have rates of HIV contraction. The number of drug addicts seeking treatment has doubled. And perhaps the most impressive statistic: heroin-related deaths were cut in half between 1999 and 2003. Writes TIME:

The United States has much to learn from the Portuguese success story, especially at a time when violent conflict with Mexican cartels has become the norm and the American prison population is almost literally through the roof. The “War on Drugs,” coined originally by Richard Nixon, is in its 39th year. A combative approach to drug policy has only exacerbated our drug problem—the U.S. consistently has the highest rates of drug use in the world.

Perhaps the Cato study will provide the hard evidence needed to at least begin the slow process of change. Strange though it may sound, perhaps we should look to Portugal.