Cannabis policy and legislation in the Nordic countries A report on the control of cannabis use and possession in the Nordic legal systems Cannabis policy and legislation in the Nordic countries A report on the control of cannabis use and possession in the Nordic legal systems Published by Nordic Welfare Centre © 2019 Project manager: Yaira Obstbaum Authors: Susanne Egnell, Emma Villman, Yaira Obstbaum Responsible publisher: Eva Franzén ISBN: 978-91-88213-38-9 Nordic Welfare Centre Box 1073, SE-101 39 Stockholm Visiting Adress: Drottninggatan 30 Phone: +46 8 545 536 00 [email protected] Nordic Welfare Centre c/o Folkhälsan FI-00250 Helsinki Visiting Adress: Topeliusgatan 20 Phone: +358 20 741 08 80 [email protected] The report can be downloaded at nordicwelfare.org/en/publikationer 2 Preface How do the Nordic countries control cannabis use in their legal systems? How do the Nordic legal systems see cannabis as a drug in 2018, and how does this affect the cannabis user? This report looks at the similarities and differences in legisla- tion and the ways in which the law is enacted in legal practice, police work, and many other arenas. While the Nordic countries have relatively similar criminal policies as a whole, there are some striking differences in their dealing with drugs such as cannabis. We therefore survey the legislative differences and similarities in this five-country report in close detail. The country profiles zoom in on the legal control of cannabis on the basis of a large body of secondary material, academic literature, and reports as well as data from Nordic statistical bureaus. The authors have also conducted interviews with researchers and representatives of the legal system to address an evident lack of research on the practicalities of policing and sanctioning of cannabis use. Emma Villman has written the chapter on Finland, while the sections on Den- mark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden were authored by Susanne Egnell. The intro- ductory chapters were written by Yaira Obstbaum-Federley. The report was produced in a project financed by the Nordic Arena for Public Health Issues. We encourage the readers to read another result from this project, the report Cannabis-related problems in the Nordic Countries (Stenius, 2019), which is available at the Nordic Welfare Centre's website nordicwelfare.org. The findings of the report on cannabis control in the Nordic legal systems were discussed by a Nordic expert group consisting of Mats Anderberg, Susanne Egnell, Helgi Gunnlaugsson, Pekka Hakkarainen, Karoliina Karjalainen, Aarne Kinnunen, Paul Larsson, Maj Nygaard-Christensen, Yaira Obstbaum-Federley, Rafn Magnús Jónsson, Karin Rantala, Nina Rehn-Mendoza, Kristine Rømer Thom-sen, Mette Irmgard Snertingdal, Kerstin Stenius, Henrik Tham, Per Ole Träsk-man and Emma Villman. We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to the expert group. We also wish to thank Jessica Gustafsson, Pirkko Hautamäki, Heini Kai- nulainen, Nina Karlsson Leena Metsäpelto and Nina Rehn-Mendoza. 3 We hope this report will be of interest and inspiration for researchers, experts in judicial matters as well as in social studies, and experts working with these mat- ters in government organisations and in third sector organisations and anyone interested in these questions. Eva Franzén Director, Nordic Welfare Centre 4 Contents Preface .............................................................................................................. 3 Terminology ...................................................................................................... 8 Why should we study the legal control of cannabis from a Nordic perspective? Reasons and statistics ....................................................................................... 9 References ....................................................................................................... 13 Cannabis use in the Nordic countries ................................................................ 15 References ....................................................................................................... 17 Cannabis control in Denmark ........................................................................... 19 Danish drug laws ...................................................................................... 20 Medical cannabis ............................................................................... 21 Police-registered drug offences ................................................................ 21 Cannabis in police-registered offences .............................................. 23 Drug-impaired driving ....................................................................... 23 Who is controlled? ............................................................................. 25 Cannabis on the Danish illicit drug market ................................................ 27 Synthetic cannabinoids ..................................................................... 28 Penalty assessment and case law ............................................................. 29 Penal sanctions system .............................................................................. 31 Fines and imprisonment .................................................................... 32 Waiving of measures .......................................................................... 33 Alternative or mixed sanctions .......................................................... 34 Youth sanctions ..................................................................................35 Treatment in prison ........................................................................... 36 Criminal record ................................................................................... 37 Summary: Denmark ........................................................................................ 38 References ...................................................................................................... 40 Cannabis control in Finland .............................................................................. 45 Finnish drug legislation ............................................................................. 45 Drug use offences (50:2a§) ................................................................. 45 Narcotics offences (50:1§) .................................................................. 47 Aggravated narcotics offences (50:2§) ............................................... 47 Medical cannabis ............................................................................... 48 Changes in the legislation .................................................................. 48 Police-registered drug offences ................................................................ 48 Who is controlled? .................................................................................... 50 Cannabis on the Finnish illicit drug market ................................................. 51 Cannabis in police-registered offences ..................................................... 52 Penal sanctions system ..............................................................................53 5 Waiving of measures ....................................................................... 55 Summary: Finland ..................................................................................... 57 References ...................................................................................................... 58 Cannabis control in Iceland .............................................................................. 62 Icelandic drug legislation .......................................................................... 63 Medical cannabis ............................................................................... 63 Police-registered drug offences ................................................................ 63 Drug-impaired driving ....................................................................... 65 What do we know about the Icelandic cannabis market? .......................... 67 Penalty levels and case law ....................................................................... 69 Penal sanctions system ............................................................................. 72 Waiving of measures .......................................................................... 73 Criminal record .................................................................................. 74 Summary: Iceland ............................................................................................ 75 References ...................................................................................................... 76 Cannabis control in Norway ............................................................................. 79 Norwegian drug legislation ....................................................................... 80 Medical cannabis ............................................................................... 81 Police-registered drug offences ................................................................ 81 Cannabis in police-registered offences .............................................. 83 Drug-impaired driving ....................................................................... 84 Who is controlled? ............................................................................. 86 Cannabis on the Norwegian illegal drug market ........................................ 88 Synthetic cannabinoids