On Friday, the government presented its drug reform, but what kind of punishment one risks for having drugs on one’s person will not become clear until Easter 2025. Minister of Justice Emilie Enger Mehl is already making it clear that there will be no lower limit for how little of an illegal intoxicants, which will be punishable: – Anything over zero grams must be punishable. She wants an end to the fact that the police are unsure whether they have the opportunity to intervene against drug use or not. Since 2021, there has been a change in how the police have handled these cases after the Attorney General published guidelines on the state of the law in the drug field. – I want to take seriously the teachers, parents, children and young people who are concerned that this could escalate further, if we do not deal with the problem, Mehl said in Politisk kvarter on Tuesday morning. Demonstrators against the government’s drug reform that was presented on Friday 26 October. Photo: David Skovly / news A morbid incentive Mehl clarifies that the government does not want to punish drug abusers and believes it is possible to distinguish between drug use and drug abuse: – Then you have to make a concrete assessment based on some criteria in each individual case to determine who which then end up in the provisions that concern drug addicts and who are not. Leader of Unge Høyre, Ola Svenneby. Photo: Alf Simensen / news Leader of Unge Høyre, Ola Svenneby, believes it will be impossible to distinguish between drug addicts and those who are just drug users. And can be counterproductive: – It will simply only lead to a kind of morbid incentive, really. That only if you become addicted enough, if you get drunk even a little more, then maybe you should get that help instead of being punished. It’s a rather outdated view of drug addiction life. Saliva samples 4.2% of Norwegians between the ages of 15 and 34 have used cocaine in the past year. This is shown by figures from the EU’s drugs agency, and it is the third most in Europe together with Denmark. The Minister of Justice believes that the police must be able to intervene to prevent people from using illegal drugs, e.g. by taking saliva samples: – We will look at whether a saliva sample should be the main rule, since it is a minimal intervention. The basis for all this is that the police’s work must be proportionate, and that the least intrusive method must be used, as in all other work the police do. Svenneby says such instruments are outdated and that the Attorney General has already deprived the police of the opportunity to use them, because it was believed to be a violation of human rights. – It is a shame that the Center Party’s home alone party in the Ministry of Justice continues at the mercy of the Labor Party, and unfortunately there are some who struggle with drug addiction who are paying the price for that. Part two of the government’s drug reform will come in April 2025 and will follow up the Drug Enforcement Committee’s investigation. Debate on the drug reform in the Political Quarter Published 29.10.2024, at 10.08
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Mehl: – Anything over zero grams should be punishable
