Norway Is Moving to Decriminalize All Drug Use

[donnay]

Norway Is Moving to Decriminalize All Drug Use


December 14, 2017 at 5:00 pm
Written by Carey Wedler


Oslo, Norway — Norway is the latest country to move toward decriminalizing drugs and promoting addiction treatment rather than punishing addicts.

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This week, a majority of members of the Norwegian parliament directed the national government to reform its policies. “The majority in the parliament has asked the government to prepare for reform,” a spokesperson for the Storting, the Norwegian legislature, told Newsweek. “It has started a political process,” he said, still cautioning that “it’s just the starting point.” Despite some headlines’ claims that drugs have already been decriminalized, there is no legislation yet.

Nicolas Wilkinson, the SV (Socialist Left) party’s health spokesman in the Storting, said the majority wants to “stop punishing people who struggle, but instead give them help and treatment,” according to VG, a Norwegian publication. He said the switch in policy will lead to an emphasis on treatment and follow-up programs, though lawmakers made it clear that they do not intend to legalize drugs.

“It is important to emphasize that we do not legalize cannabis and other drugs, but we decriminalize,” Sveinung Stensland (H) [Conservative Party], deputy chairman of the Storting Health Committee, told VG.”The change will take some time, but that means a changed vision: Those who have a substance abuse problem should be treated as ill, and not as criminals with classical sanctions such as fines and imprisonment.”

Officials in Norway have been considering reforming the country’s prohibition policies for over a decade. Newsweek summarized:

“In 2006, it started to test a program that would sentence drug users to treatment programs, rather than jail, in the cities Bergen and Oslo. In early 2016, the country gave Norwegian courts the option to do this on a national level.”

“The goal is that more addicts will rid themselves of their drug dependency and fewer will return to crime,” Justice Minister Anders Anundsen said at the time. “But if the terms of the programme are violated, the convicts must serve an ordinary prison term.”

The shift was introduced by the country’s conservative party, though some on the right condemned it, arguing drugs should remain wholly illegal, while reformists believed the change in policy didn’t go far enough.

As Arild Knutsen of the Association for Humane Drug Policy said last year:

“If Norway was truly progressive, they would follow WHO and UNAIDS recommendations and fully decriminalize drug use, ban forced treatment and stop using involuntary urine controls.”

Now, it appears Norway is inching closer toward decriminalization. Portugal opted to decriminalize drugs in 2001, a move that has drawn praise for the decrease in drug use that followed.

However, lawmakers hope to free up resources so police can pursue drug traffickers (rather than users), and other restrictions will remain. VG explained:

“It will still be a ‘ban on use and possession of drugs.’ However, the two major parties agree to ‘change the authorities’ reactions to persons taken for use and possession of drugs, from punishment to help, treatment and follow-up.’”

http://theantimedia.org/norway-decriminalize-drug-use/?utm_referrer=https://zen.yandex.com

 

[Zippyjuan]

Portugal has mandatory treatment if you are caught with small amounts of drugs (larger amounts make you a dealer and you still go to jail).

In Norway, treatment will be "voluntary". But if you don't want treatment, you will still go to jail.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/ester-nafstad/norway-the-emperors-new-drug-policies_b_9040746.html

On the 8th of December, in a meeting in the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the Norwegian delegation said “access to treatment should be voluntary” and civil society participation “should be strengthened.” And on the 10th of December, the Norwegian delegation claimed that “all treatment in Norway is voluntary.”

The Norwegian claims are, at best, a stretch of the truth.

The so-called “alternatives to prison” in Norway consist of drug courts or urine control contracts. Through drug court programs addicts facing prison are offered different forms of aid to get their lives back on track if they choose the program over prison. The programs include regular urine controls. Repeatedly failing controls can lead back to prison, and only one third of those who choose the programs complete them successfully.

For people between 15 and 18 caught with cannabis, urine control contracts are now the recommended sanction. They were marketed as “voluntary drug contracts,” but have since been dubbed the more palatable “youth contracts,” after health workers in Bergen complained that young people were being coerced to sign.

Those who choose this “alternative to punishment” are sometimes offered therapy sessions, but also have to pee in front of a stranger every week for up to a year. Should those who enter into agreements fail a test, they will be reported by health personnel, prosecuted and receive a fine and a criminal record. Health workers have complained of being uncomfortable with reporting their clients.

Police do not distinguish between problematic users and non-problematic users, and young people are also being pressured into turning themselves in and entering into agreements by concerned parents and friends. Arguably the regime is more punitive and intrusive than fines. No one knows whether those who enter into contracts actually discontinue use when the agreement expires, and many have said the urine controls pressured them into using dangerous synthetic drugs that are not as easily detected.

 

[DamianTV]

Didnt Dr. Paul say that we should be treating drug addiction as a medical problem and not a legal one?

They'd have a hard time in this country with Big pHARMa pushing to make everyone a prescription drug addict...

 

[tod evans]

Too much money to be made for those involved in the "Just-Us" system.

 

[euphemia]

Just reminding you all Norway is all about government. Who pays for the treatment? The people who work and are not addicted to anything. Giving rights to some takes them away from those who work.

 

[oyarde]

I am not interested in paying for any of it . Nobody's drugs , incarceration , rehab . They need to get to work and pay for own .

 

[tod evans]

Just reminding you all Norway is all about government. Who pays for the treatment? The people who work and are not addicted to anything. Giving rights to some takes them away from those who work.

Best case scenario is no free shit.

No criminal charges, courts or treatment, if people can't care for themselves then reopen the leper colonies..

Work or starve, if you want to stay home and get stoned then you'd better be able to keep a billpayer satisfied to where he/she wants to support your ass..

 

[euphemia]

Exactly, but do you really think taxpayers are going to get out from under paying for rehab?

That's what you folks need to think about. As long as we have a Nanny State in charge, I would rather pay for jail than rehab.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Exactly, but do you really think taxpayers are going to get out from under paying for rehab?

That's what you folks need to think about. As long as we have a Nanny State in charge, I would rather pay for jail than rehab.

Paying for rehab is cheaper than paying for jail. Reduces associated crime too like stealing to support a habit. In the US we just lock up everybody. You don't have the medical costs of treating people who have harmed their bodies by abusing substances or harming others to get more drugs or money for them.

 

[euphemia]

When the Nanny State goes away....

Did anyone even read beyond the headlines? The article specifically says it would still be a "ban on possession and use of drugs." The only change would be that people are "sentenced" to rehab.

 

[Zippyjuan]

When the Nanny State goes away....

...the police state moves in.

Portugal was able to reduce their police state and prison population by being nanny and requiring treatment instead of incarcerating drug users.

 

[euphemia]

Did you even read the article? Norway isn't giving up one little bit of control. They are just changing how they handle the ones they catch.

 

[Zippyjuan]

Did you even read the article? Norway isn't giving up one little bit of control. They are just changing how they handle the ones they catch.

Norway's approach is a little different. Portugal requires treatment. Norway you have a choice- prison or treatment.

 

[euphemia]

That's not really decriminalizing then, is it?

 

[Zippyjuan]

That's not really decriminalizing then, is it?

Only if you take the treatment option. You can go to jail if you fail to complete your treatment too.