Somewhere in the U.S., a potential mayor, governor or president is being arrested for a nonviolent drug offense.

No matter what dreams or aspirations this person had, they are more than likely done because of our society’s draconian view on drugs. It is long overdue that we put an end to this gross waste of taxpayer money.

We can start by debunking some of the myths about drug use. First and foremost, the idea that the drug is the sole cause of the addiction. Yes, most drugs have some level of addictive qualities, and some are far more addictive than others.

Heroin is leaps and bounds more addictive than caffeine (yes, caffeine is a drug) or marijuana. And it is true that prolonged use of drugs can actually rewire the chemistry of the brain.

But one must also factor in psychological as well as socioeconomic factors when looking at the cause of addiction. People with genetic predispositions for alcohol or drug addiction are obviously more at risk, and we know that drug and alcohol addiction usually targets people in impoverished communities because they have fewer resources at their disposal to combat addiction.

So rather than a flaw in a person’s character, drug addiction is often a combination of many social and psychological factors. And research does tell us that the vast majority of people who experiment with drugs never become addicts.

With these findings in mind, it’s time that the U.S. implemented a drug policy similar to that of Portugal. In 2000, Portugal, which had one of the worst drug problems in all of Europe, surprised the world when it instituted a public policy that decriminalized all drugs – everything from marijuana to crack.

Drug possession in the amount of what a person could consume in 10 days or less is not handled by criminal courts in Portugal, but handed over to the Commissions for Drug Addiction Dissuasion to receive treatment.

Critics of the policy initially claimed that all of the negatives associated with drug use – HIV/AIDS, drug addiction and overdose – would skyrocket. As it turns out, drug use, injections, HIV transmission rates through drugs use and overdose rates have all decreased in Portugal since 2000.

Our nation’s leaders owe it to nonviolent drug offenders to not give them a harsh and unfair sentence for something that many of them are guilty of committing. GOP 2016 hopeful Jeb Bush recently admitted to being a marijuana user during his college days, and we all know that his brother George W. was no stranger to white lines on his coffee table (and I’m not talking about sugar).

And current President Barack Obama certainly owes a moral debt to drug offenders considering his use of marijuana and cocaine during his youth were well documented. Obama and our nation’s leaders have the obligation, and with the data coming out of Portugal, they have the example.

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