Norway Has Voted to Decriminalize All Drugs, including Cannabis

In a momentous move for the country, Norway's parliament have voted to decriminalize all drugs, including cannabis. The Scandinavian nation will be just the second country in Europe to follow such practices and have looked to Portugal's decriminalization of drugs in 2001 as a demonstration of a success story. The new law would offer treatment and assistance to those found with small quantities of drugs, rather than charging them as criminals. Norway have a relatively low rate of drug users compared to other parts of Europe. However, their figures still show an increase in the consumption of drugs, especially cannabis. A 2017 report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction discovered that around 8.6% of Norwegians aged 16-34 had used cannabis in the 12 months prior to survey. Cannabis was also the most seized drug in the country over the last year. However, once the law has been put into practice (which it hasn't been yet) those holding and consuming drugs in small quantities will not be punished.