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The CopeNhageN posT CphposT.Dk
25 November - 1 December 2011
PETER STANNERS politicians question whether we would be better off if the state were the dealer
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HRISTIANA’S open marijuana trade has been a massive draw for both tourists and Copenhagen residents looking to indulge in the illicit drug in a permissive environment. Despite a tough crackdown by police in 2004 to clear the area, the dealers are now back on the streets. The return of the open market is an indicator of the continued viability of the marijuana trade, a market which is entirely controlled by criminal gangs who share an estimated 1.5 billion kroner in earnings. A gang war in Nørrebro that broke out in 2008 between immigrant groups and the Hells Angels is thought to be related to the control of this lucrative trade after it was forced out of Christiania. Perhaps in response to this, the City Council has been pushing to legalise the sale of marijuana in the city. The council’s vote last week on Thursday, which would pave the way to establishing up to 40 state-owned dispensaries, is the second attempt in two years to experiment with state-sanctioned marijuana shops. The experiment is far from becoming a reality, however, and Thursday’s vote simply sent an application to the Justice Ministry requesting the city proceed. A similar request was proposed in 2009, but despite broad support in the city council, it was shot down by parliament. At the time, it was the ruling Venstre and Konservative parties who refused to support the measure, fearing that legalising marijuana products would encourage more young people to use a drug that has associated mental health risks. “I’ll say it plainly: Venstre is against legal hash,” Kim Andersen from Venstre told Information newspaper in 2009. “It’s a slippery slope that will bring
young people into danger because we know that those who smoking hash have a high risk of developing mental illness, and that it often leads to hard drug abuse.” The link between mental health issues and the frequent use of marijuana is well documented. The Royal College of Psychiatrists in the UK states that regular marijuana users are twice as likely to develop a psychotic episode or longterm schizophrenia than non-users. One question being asked is whether state-sanctioned marijuana dispensaries would cause more people to start using and thereby lead to large numbers of people suffering mental health issues. A 2004 article entitled ‘Legalisation of Marijuana: Potential Impact on Youth’, published in the American journal ‘Pediatrics’, seems to indicate that this would be the case. After comparing the risk of punishment in the US against drug use in the population, the article showed that users were less likely to take a drug when it was more high risk, suggesting that removing the risk of punishment by legalising marijuana would lead to more people trying it. This is the scare scenario that Denmark’s national politicians are keen to avoid. And yet there is evidence from countries that have decriminalised marijuana that points in another direction. Portugal famously decriminalised the possession of all drugs in 2001, a move praised as being highly successful in a study by American thinktank the Cato Institute in 2009. “While drug addiction, use and associated pathologies continue to skyrocket in many EU states, those problems – in virtually every relevant category – have been either contained or measurably improved within Portugal since 2001,” the study concluded, adding that Portugal has witnessed a decrease in drug use while use in the rest of Europe sky has rocketed. Statistics from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction support the Cato Institute’s
Photo: Pamela Juhl
Could legalising pot clean up the rot?
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The City Counsil has establised a commission to investigate the best ways to legalize marijuana
findings. Their latest statistics show that Portugal has one of the lowest lifetime prevalence of marijuana usage in Europe, (11.7 percent), while Denmark has the highest, (32.5 percent). The Netherlands has had a slightly different experience. Marijuana use did increase after its initial decriminalisation in 1976, though a paper published in the British Journal of Psychology, argued this was less to do with decriminalising marijuana and more to do with its commercialisation This, they explain, is because “legal commercial interests are likely to weaken regulatory efforts”. Though ultimately the study finds that “the primary harms of marijuana use […] come from criminalisation”. Despite this, increased consumption of marijuana by Danes would probably lead to more people being put at risk of mental health issues. And according to Inger Chercka, the project manager at the addiction treatment organisation Blå Kors, the effects of marijuana addiction can be severe; especially on young people.
“Hash is a very big problem, tens of thousands of young people smoke it,” Chercka told The Copenhagen Post. “Most of them just think it’s fun and that they can’t get addicted. Most do manage to stop on their own, but there is a small group who stay addicted because they are self-medicating their own mental illness.” Chercka added that the decision to legalise marijuana in Copenhagen would make the drug more readily available to vulnerable young people. “I’m worried that legalising hash might send the signal that it’s not as dangerous as it really is. People need to know that it’s really dangerous and affects the brains of growing adults. We need to have fewer hash smokers so I’m nervous about the plan.” With this in mind, the unwillingness of MPs to support Copenhagen’s plan is understandable – no-one wants to be responsible for legalising a drug that ends up harming people. Statistically, however, individuals are far more likely to face problems with alcohol than with marijuana. The Dan-
ish board of health, Sundhedsstyrelsen, calculates that there are approximately 7,500 marijuana addicts in Denmark. And with an estimated 32.5 percent of Danes having smoked marijuana at least once, that means 0.4 percent of the population who have ever tried it become addicts. This compares to the 400,000 Danes considered to have a problem with alcohol – almost 10 percent of Danes over 15 years old. Voters seem to back the Copenhagen experiment. In a recent Ekstra Bladet poll, 86.6 percent of respondents answered that they supported the proposal. While that poll did not ask people’s reasoning, a 2009 editorial in newspaper Politiken gives some good reasons to proceed. Legalising marijuana would give the state a cut of the 1.5 billion kroner generated on the black market from its sale. “Politicians should quickly legalise hash so that the police and social workers can concentrate their efforts on helping maladjusted youths. The ban has become more dangerous to society than hash itself.”
Let us light-up: smokers voice their support for legal pot
Danish pot smokers are not put off by the threat of fines
PETER STANNERS Marijuana users speak to the Copenhagen post about what legal smoking would mean to them
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ANNABIS users have a variety of reasons for supporting the City Council’s proposal to legalise the drug, but taken together, their arguments paint a picture of a society already largely tolerant of marijuana and users unafraid of punishment.
Rebecca* is a student in her early 20s. She smokes marijuana regularly and hardly ever drinks. Growing up, her parents knew of her habit but thought as long as she was doing well in school, it didn’t matter. Her father, a successful doctor, also smokes marijuana. She doesn’t feel that legalising marijuana will make people more likely to take it up – she found it exciting as a teenager precisely because it was illegal. “I was taking more risks as a kid, but now I’m more conservative. I
used to smoke it outside pretty much everywhere. Now I just smoke in my apartment. And anyways, even if I did get caught, I would only have to pay a small fine.” Rebecca buys her marijuana from a dealer in Christiania, though she would prefer to buy it from a legal source so the state could collect taxes on it. “I definitely worry about the fact that it’s scary gangs who are providing it. But I don’t think about it, I just want to buy. Everyone smokes weed, my dad’s a doctor and he smokes. You can be a weed smoker and be talented and successful. Why’s drinking legal? It’s got worse side effects.” Jacob* is a graphic designer in his 20s from northern Copenhagen. He has smoked cannabis since he was a teenager but never really felt it was particularly risky to buy. “I might have thought about it when I had it in my pocket. But it’s not a serious criminal offence; you’re not killing anyone so it doesn’t get treated that way.” To Jacob, selling marijuana in state controlled shops would be ideal. “The important thing in regards to mild recreational drugs like weed or alcohol is to detach them from the
harder drugs. By legalising them you separate it from cocaine and ecstasy, so someone buying alcohol at an early age isn’t offered the harder drugs. The main point is to differentiate between them.” Henrik*, in his early 30s, is a promoter and events planner. He didn’t start smoking until his early 20s, though it wasn’t out of fear of punishment. “I’m not put off by the penalties. I’m not afraid of them and I’ve never been caught. I know very few people who’ve ever been caught by the police anyways. “Smoking weed is completely fine; people don’t really care. There are some places where it’s expected, and some places you know you shouldn’t, but generally it’s completely tolerated. In a way it’s almost already legalised because it’s out in the open in Christiania and no-one does anything about it.” He acknowledged that there were risks associated with smoking marijuana, but argued that the tax revenue it generates could be used to fund treatment and prevention. Rebecca also said she thought marijuana could be a dangerous drug for some, but argued that criminalising it had hardly prevented its widespread
use.
“I think that it can probably act as a gateway drug, not for me but for others. I would say I’m an addict, but I still have a job and go to school and manage to balance everything, even though I smoke weed every day. But there are a lot of people who can’t manage the balance and they need to be given help, not treated like criminals.” Alan*, a former marijuana user in his late 20s, agreed with Rebecca. “I had to stop because I was become increasingly paranoid and insecure – even in the days after I used it. A state-controlled sale could have brought me closer to experts who could have helped me.” But Alan argued that criminalisation is not the best way to protect vulnerable people. “Ultimately, there’s a lot of ordinary things that people can develop addictions to like sex, computer games and work. Marijuana will always be available and just because a small portion of people develop side effects, it doesn’t mean it should be a criminal act.” *All the names in this story have been changed.