“This matter is not on the government programme, it is not a discussion we have had in the government, I am not up to speed on the circumstances in which the minister Paula Teixeira da Cruz made these declarations, but I conclude they must have been personal”, he said on the sidelines of opening a fire station in Vale de Cambra on Sunday.


Passos Coelho was responding to comments by the justice minister, Paula Teixeira da Cruz, who said she agreed with depenalising the use of light drugs, in an interview to TSF radio, so “there is no highly organised crime or money laundering”.


"It has been shown, and for me it is very clear with the prohibition in the USA, that repression in this matter, leads to crimes. In this context, I believe there are advantages in this liberalisation.


For Paula Teixeira da Cruz, the depenalisation of light drug consumption – providing them in pharmacies for instance – represents a gain for the state and particularly for the citizens as it would not feed a “highly profitable” business".