Norway Plans to Decriminalize Drugs

Despite being known as a Scandinavian country with a high quality of life and Donald Trump’s preferred immigrant population, Norway has one of the highest rates of heroin overdose in Europe. It’s become a major public health issue in the small country of 5 million people. The government has recently announced that they will follow the example of Portugal, who in 2001 decriminalized all drugs. The program has been successful, with the number of deaths by overdose decreasing dramatically. Instead of criminal charges drugs, the focus will be on treatment. This is a positive step forward for a country with such a high proportion of overdoses to its relatively small population. However, here is still disagreement in the Norwegian Parliament over the issue and there has yet to be any concrete legislation. According to Justice Minister "The goal is that more addicts will rid themselves of their drug dependency and fewer will return to crime".(1 image, 3 links, 1 quotation, 155 words).