SOCIAL SERVICES MINISTER: NO PLANS FOR DRUG LEGALISATION IN FINLAND

Soininvaara open to separating cannabis from hard drugs

Many countries in Europe are decriminalising the use of soft drugs on a de
facto, if not a de jure level.

The reasoning is that since drugs cannot be eliminated by force, ways have
to be sought to live with them. Finland is looking at these developments
with caution.

Finland has no intentions to ease current restrictions on the use of
illegal drugs. "Finland is not under any pressure to legalise drugs", says
Finland's Minister of Social Services Osmo Soininvaara (Green), who is
responsible for drug policy. However, Soininvaara does say that Finland
could make a clearer distinction between hard and soft drugs. In Finland,
overall use of illegal drugs is lower than in many other European
countries, but the number of deaths from heroin overdoses is relatively
high. Officials at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health are examining
the possibility of fighting this problem by making a clear distinction
between soft and hard drugs in sentencing. Soininvaara explains that the
effect of such a move could be that cannabis and heroin might not be sold
by the same people. In 1995 there was one death in Finland related to the
use of Heroin. In 1997 there were 27 and in 1999 there were 46. More than
half of the overdose deaths in 1999 were under 25 years of age.

There are fewer heroin deaths in the Netherlands than in Finland. The
Netherlands has managed to bring down the use of hard drugs by effectively
legalising soft drugs. "The harm from the use of cannabis comes out over a
longer period of time", Soininvaara says. In his view the case of The
Netherlands is interesting, and Finland is observing it from the sidelines.
"If they conduct a human experiment like that, perhaps we can look and see
how it goes". European attitudes towards drugs inevitably influence the
situation in Finland both in practice, and on the level of policy. "If it
should happen that all European countries except Finland and Sweden
legalise cannabis, then the situation will have to be re-examined. However,
there is a long way to go, and we don't have to worry about it during my
term as minister," Soininvaara says.

Demand reduction is currently the main means of fighting drug abuse in
Finland. Soininvaara concedes that drug treatment has been neglected, and
that this benefits drug dealers. "An efficient way of cutting back on the
heroin trade is to arrange treatment for addicts.

One way that the drug trade operates is that people who are hooked
themselves are given their own heroin for free if they recruit new customers.

Treatment deprives the major trafficers of both dealers and customers." The
Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is trying to pressure municipalities
and health care districts to arrange maintenance therapy for those addicted
to opiates, instead of just talking about it. Soininvaara says that it is
"just a matter of taste" if the maintenance involves methadone or some
other drug.