– The government is lagging behind – VG

OSLO RÅDHUS (VG) The City Council and the Conservatives in the capital have agreed: They want to introduce as much of the drug reform in Oslo as possible – without asking the government for a law.

– Oslo can take the lead and show that it is possible to meet people with help instead of punishment, says Rina Mariann Hansen (Labor Party), City Councilor for Work, Integration and Social Services in Oslo.

The battle for the drug reform was in practice at the Labor Party’s national meeting in April 2021. Hansen and the rest of the Oslo Labor Party worked for the reform, but tapte – after the party leader and now Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre (Labor Party) went to the podium and spoke against decriminalization of drugs.

– After the drug reform was not adopted, many of us have been very frustrated. There are many who were and are skeptical, and we are keen to show that what we believe is right. The government is lagging behind, says Hansen.

Now the Labor-led city council is joining forces with its political opponents in Oslo with the goal of introducing as much as possible of the drug reform without asking the Støre government for permission.

– The capital takes on the leader jersey

– We hope that we can achieve this within the current regulations. It would have been much easier if the Conservative government’s drug reform had a majority, but it did not. Then it is good that the capital takes on the leader’s shirt and shows the way, says Hassan Nawaz, city council representative for the Conservative Party.

The Solberg government’s proposal for drug reform entailed decriminalization of the use and possession of small quantities of drugs for own use.

The Støre government will present its proposal for a drug reform in 2023. In the Hurdal Declaration, the Labor Party and the Socialist People’s Party write that they are against a general decriminalization of drugs, but that “people with drug addiction should be met with help and treatment instead of criminal reactions”.

– Can show that this is going just fine

But Oslo politicians will not wait until 2023 – and do not think the Støre government will go far enough in its proposal.

– It is important that we do it now, so Oslo can take the lead and show that this is going just fine, Hansen says and continues:

– In the debate on the drug reform, there is a lot of frightening argumentation about how society will almost disintegrate if it is adopted. I do not believe that.

– I’m not a fan of rematch. I do not know about you, Rina? asks Nawaz.

– If you win in the end, Hansen answers and laughs.

– But I do not think anyone turns by themselves. Then it is important to keep the debate going and come up with constructive measures that get us one step closer to the goal, Nawaz continues.

Police: – Optimistic

The two politicians say that the talks with the Oslo Police are good, and that cooperation is important to find out how much is possible within current legislation.

Police Inspector Rune Solberg Swahn comments on the case on behalf of the Oslo Police District.

– The Oslo police district is optimistic about the scheme and believes the establishment of advisory units will be able to provide better prevention and better help in connection with illegal drug use, he writes in an e-mail to VG.

– The police district already has a very good collaboration with the municipalities, and looks forward to preparing the practical routines together with Oslo, Asker and Bærum.

In June 2021, the Storting passed two amendments to the law:

• All municipalities must establish advisory units for Russian cases, and have received funding for this from 1 July 2022.
• The police are given the opportunity to decide criminal cases with an order to appear before these advisory units.

– This applies to criminal cases involving the use of drugs or possession of drugs for personal use, Swahn writes and continues:

– It will still be the case that it is the prosecuting lawyer on the case who decides whether, for example, a fine, failure to prosecute without conditions, failure to prosecute with special conditions such as freedom from intoxication or imposed attendance at the advisory unit for drug cases.

Great Oslo support

In March 2021, a consultation statement that supported the drug reform received support from 58 of 59 representatives in the city council. Only KrF voted against.

Hansen and Nawaz say they want to start one pilot trials as soon as possible, in cooperation with the police and the advisory units.

– All municipalities need a drug reform, but especially the big cities. Here we see every day up close the consequences of a long-standing failed drug policy, says Nawaz.

A local drug reform will not be perfect, the two politicians acknowledge.

– We work with the police to find out how to practice this. Those who are currently being reported have the police a legal basis to grant a waiver of prosecution and refer to the advisory units. Our goal is that as many people as possible are not prosecuted and are instead referred to the municipality’s advisory units, Hansen says.

– Failure to prosecute can also affect the further lives of people?

– That is correct. We are looking at how we can implement it within the regulations we have. It’s a kind of “step one”.

– Will the follow-up be mandatory?

– These are the things we are now discussing further, how we are going to make it happen in practice.

Have not spoken to the government

– As long as the majority in the Storting is against the drug reform, this is the closest we get to a fair drug reform in Oslo right now. This is a better solution than distinguishing between drug addicts and continuing with the penalty line that applies today, says Nawaz.

– When you try to do it within current laws and regulations, it is because you expect that if you apply to the government, you will get no?

– Yes. That is correct, says Hansen.

– If it was solely about positioning and showing what Oslo means, then we could have chosen to apply to the government to get a no. Then we could have an exciting public debate. But we had not been given the opportunity to actually show the effect of another line, she continues.

The Labor City Council has not notified its party colleagues in government about the drug reform agreement with the Conservatives.

– As a city councilor and the city council in Oslo, I represent the policy adopted by the Oslo City Council. We have a mandate from the voters in Oslo, from a unanimous Oslo City Council and a city council statement where this is stated, Hansen says.

– Oslo is its own city and has its own policy regardless of which parties have government power?

– I think we have a long history for that, yes.

–