Drugs in Lisbon

February 12, 2013

Since 2001, Portugal’s drug policy was loosened to the level of decriminalization for amounts of drugs that would be less than a 10 day supply. Legally, these limits were defined by arbitrary amounts decided by government authorities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_Portugal#Amount_limits

On my first full day in Lisbon, I decided to medicate myself at wander the neighborhood streets. In my bag, I smuggled a cookie from a cannabis club in California. This cookie had an extremely high dosage and it was recommended to eat it in pieces. I ate the whole thing and didn’t look back. The streets were lined with exotic pieces of graffiti. The cobble stone streets were surprisingly even and easy to walk on. Some of them were missing but filled in with dirt and dust.

My face had a gigantic smile that I couldn’t hide at that moment. About a week before this, I was walking around Pacific Mexico and now I’m in a completely different part of the world. There was an entire ocean separating me from the life I used to know in California. If some shit went down, and the world completely fell apart, my ass is stuck in Europe. It would be nearly impossible to return to the United States unless for an airplane.

I walked westward until I hit the ocean and passed through this giant archway called the Rua Augusta Arch. This took about an hour to get to and my entire body felt completely numb. My mind was painfully aware that I had an enormous grin on my face but was unable to remove it. The sheer fact that I was only starting my adventure was fixated on my conscious. It made me look like a complete idiot and an easy target.

Normally, I would have my guard up, but today I was feeling great and a little sociable. A tall Middle Eastern man approached me immediately. He was unshaven and wore a faded navy blazer over his thin sweater. The skin on his face was reddened by the sun and was unshaven. This man approached me and held out his hand which contained a small bag filled with what looked like marijuana. His desperation to sell this to me was almost to a state of panic. It’s as if he couldn’t stand still. He told me it was 20 Euros and shoved it into my hands. For that size, I told him that it was worth around 10 and handed it back to him. He said deal for half and proceded to split his bag to give to me. Once I realized what he was doing, I stopped him to take a look at it. It didn’t even smell anything close to shitty Mexican ditch weed that I started smoking in high school. There wasn’t a smell to it at all. Upon closer examination, it wasn’t even what I thought it was. Not wanting to offend the dealer, I told him that I wasn’t interested and walked away. I took a seat looking out at the water (picture above) and looked over my shoulder. The dealer was speaking to another guy and pointing at me.
The new guy came over to me and had a seat next to me. He reached into his jacket and pulled out a piece of hash and asked if I was interested in hash instead. Because of his association with the first guy who just tried to sell me oregano, I was weary of the new one and what he had. I didn’t even bother to examine what he had with him and just refused him flat out. That didn’t stop him at all and he kept talking until I left. Later on, I found out that it’s common for drug dealers to sell false wares to unknowing travelers.

This is an example of some fake hash that I purchased in Bairro Alto district. Another middle eastern man stopped me in the street and offered to sell me some hash. For 5 euros, I purchased it and brought it back to the hostel I was staying at. There were some older guys who were staying there that told me that I just bought poison. It was hash cut with random ingredients like glue and plastic. If smoked, I could’ve gotten really sick. One of them snatched it out of my hand and threw it in the garbage. Before I could get mad, he handed me a joint and told me to try some hash. I did and it was great.

Most of the hash in Lisbon comes over from Morocco due to it’s close proximity. It is easily smuggled through boats over to Portugal’s expansive coast line. Upon examination, you’ll be able to distinctly smell the dank odor of marijuana along with an earthiness. It will be crumbly and gritty while having a bit of flexibility. This is crumbled onto a rolled cigarette or smoked out of a pipe. Any of the bars playing reggae music will be able to guide you towards the right people to purchase hash. Some of them will have patrons smoking it openly while having a drink.

Written by becomeworldly Posted in Portugal Tagged with drugs, hash, how to buy, lisbon, marijuana, portugal, travel