Making up a new drug user from depenalization to repenalisation of drug users in Denmark

Houborg, Esben; Søgaard, Thomas Friis; Mogensen, Sif Anna Ingibergdottir

doi:10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102660

Cited by 10 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…The new programme was in part a policy response to the increases in youth drug use. However, as outlined by Houborg et al (2020b) it also reflected a general shift towards more morally based neo-conservative "law and order" crime policies in Denmark (see Balvig, 2005). The Fight against Drugs initiated a change in Danish drug control policy (Frank, 2008;Houborg et al, 2008), and it addressed different areas directly relevant to cannabis policy, one of which was use and small-scale selling of cannabis.…”

Section: Cannabis Use As a Criminal Offence And Deviant Choicementioning

confidence: 99%

Danish cannabis policy revisited: Multiple framings of cannabis use in policy discourse

Søgaard

Nygaard-Christensen

Frank

2021

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

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Aim: This article traces recent developments in Danish cannabis policy, by exploring how “cannabis use” is problematised and governed within different co-existing policy areas. Background: Recently, many countries have changed their cannabis policy by introducing medical cannabis and/or by moving toward legalisation or decriminalisation. Researchers have thus argued that traditional notions of cannabis as a singular and coherent object, are being replaced by perspectives that highlight the multiple ontological character of cannabis. At the same time, there is growing recognition that drug policy is not a unitary phenomenon, but rather composed by multiple “policy areas”, each defined by particular notions of what constitutes the relevant policy “problem”. Design: We draw on existing research, government reports, policy papers and media accounts of policy and policing developments. Results: We demonstrate how Danish cannabis policy is composed of different co-existing framings of cannabis use; as respectively a social problem, a problem of deviance, an organised crime problem, a health- and risk problem and as a medical problem. Conclusion: While the international trend seems to be that law-and-order approaches are increasingly being replaced by more liberal approaches, Denmark, on an overall level, seems to be moving in the opposite direction: Away from a lenient decriminalisation policy and towards more repressive approaches. We conclude that the prominence of discursive framings of cannabis use as a “problem of deviance” and as “a driver of organised crime”, has been key to this process.

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Section: Cannabis Use As a Criminal Offence And Deviant Choicementioning

confidence: 99%

Danish cannabis policy revisited: Multiple framings of cannabis use in policy discourse

Søgaard

Nygaard-Christensen

Frank

2021

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

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“…Internationally, some schemes have explicitly excluded minors from a non-criminal response, whereas others specify circumstances where policies apply to them. Up until 2004 in Denmark, for example, several police forces enacted de facto schemes to avoid arresting and charging young people for simple drug possession, even where these criminal justice responses were still applied to adults (Houborg et al, 2020;Hughes et al, 2018).…”

Section: Age: What Age Group(s) Does the Model Apply To?mentioning

confidence: 99%

How to decriminalize drugs: the design features of a non-criminal response to the personal possession of drugs

Greer¹,

Bonn²,

Ritter³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Internationally, stakeholders across jurisdictions are considering alternative, noncriminal responses to the personal possession of drugs. Alternative responses include various decriminalization, diversion, and depenalization schemes. However, what details need to be considered? In this paper, we present the design features of noncriminal responses to simple possession and consider the implications of the choices available. The features include the reform architecture (objectives, decriminalization options, de jure or de facto approach), eligibility criteria (person-, place-, and drugbased criteria), and the actions taken (deterrence, therapeutic, and enforcement strategies). From this examination, it is clear that details matter -some can undermine the goals of reform altogether. We also show that the notion of 'decriminalization' is not a simple, unified framework. Rather, there are meaningful differences in policies and options available within a non-criminal response. The design features covered in this paper offer a framework that can be used to design future reforms and operationalize research on non-criminal responses to personal drug possession.

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“…The association between drug policy and citizenship is not unfamiliar in drug policy analysis. Some analyses, for example, associate harm reduction with new public health as a way to promote a neo-liberal, health conscious, and self-responsible citizen (Fomiatti, Moore, & Fraser 2019;Tammi and Hurme 2007), while others have seen drug policies as both promoting and restricting social citizenship (Benoit 2003;Houborg & Bjerge 2011;Houborg, Søgaard, & Mogensen, 2020). Therefore, when we analyse Danish drug policy we will study how different drug policy initiatives have affected the rights and obligations of drug users; the extent to which such initiatives have served as mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion of drug users; and how they have influenced drug users' access to resources.…”

Section: Drug Policy and Social Citizenshipmentioning

confidence: 99%

Danish Drug Policy: Between Repression and Harm Reduction

Houborg¹,

Møller²

2021

Retreat or Entrenchment? Drug Policies in the Nordic Countries at a Crossroads

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Making up a new drug user from depenalization to repenalisation of drug users in Denmark

Cited by 10 publications

References 42 publications

Danish cannabis policy revisited: Multiple framings of cannabis use in policy discourse

Danish cannabis policy revisited: Multiple framings of cannabis use in policy discourse

How to decriminalize drugs: the design features of a non-criminal response to the personal possession of drugs

Danish Drug Policy: Between Repression and Harm Reduction

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