CANNABIS CULTURE – On 11th September 2021, the Alliance for Rights-Oriented Drug Policies (AROD) launched a historic civil disobedience campaign outside the main police station in Oslo.
Everything was well prepared.
The police and the Prosecution Authority were informed in advance, and the AROD was allowed to set up shop for a two-hour period. In this period, journalists and concerned citizens were present to ask questions. After that cannabis products, including a plant and several joints, were put forward and people lit up, showing their disdain for a regime of arbitrary persecution.
Cannabis Culture met up with the leader of the AROD, Roar Mikalsen, to learn more.
What was the purpose of this campaign?
There is a principled foundation underpinning western civilization. Our constitutional heritage goes back to the Enlightenment Era, where principles of equality, proportionality, autonomy, and a presumption of liberty were given the centre stage. The French and American revolutions were fought to protect their yield, and normally these principles are weighed and allowed to shape criminal policy.
However, these human rights principles have been ignored when it comes to the evolution of drug policy. Drug prohibition proceeds on the premise that we are dealing with a horrible enemy which cannot be dealt with in less repressive ways, and the drug-free ideal has made us accept persecution that extends to 10–20 percent of the population.
With time, it has become obvious that this has consequences that must be addressed. Most professionals, for instance, agree that the drug law has failed to deter drug use or stop the supply chain of illicit drugs. Instead, the side effects of drug prohibition have made everything worse, and so more and more states are now moving from a position of zero tolerance to decriminalization and regulation. Not only that, the constitutional courts and governments around the world are beginning to apply human rights principles to the area of drug policy. Western civilization is moving out of an age of moral panic and scapegoating to align with human rights demands—but Norway continues to ignore the call of first principles.
This is explained by the fact that residents of Norway, while far ahead in some areas of human rights, have long seen drug users as a pariah class. They have been misrepresented as a helpless, incompetent, pathetic, and sinister lot; they are considered as people who deserve forced medical intervention or punishment, and the state has actively endorsed this myth.
To paint itself as the good guy, the state has twisted the dynamic of supply and demand into one of victim and aggressor. Thus, the drug dealer has become a symbol of evil, and politicians collectively support a regime of 21 years’ incarceration for activities that are becoming increasingly regulated in other Western countries. That drug users and dealers have human rights protection has been unheard of due to the level of fear. Even so, it is up to the state to show good reasons for continuing such repressive policies, and the AROD has put forward 5 questions that must be addressed.
If prohibition is to be seen as a decent venture, one compatible with fundamental human rights, this is what the state must do. Human rights principles provide the only firmament for the rule of law, and yet Norwegian authorities continue to duck these questions and the responsibilities that come along with the office. We have seen this problem unfold for too long, and we decided it was time to try the courts.
How did the police respond?
The police have acted in a professional and well-mannered capacity. They arrested me only after the people had lit up and they gave us more room to operate than they had to. After a short interrogation on the spot, I was allowed to continue the event without the products.
What’s next?
We are now counting on the Prosecution Authority to support our demand for a human rights analysis. For over 10 years drug users, producers, and distributors have demanded an effective remedy against arbitrary persecution and with the 2019 report of the Royal Commission on Drug Law Reform, it is no longer possible to ignore human rights responsibilities.
In short, the Royal Commission held that the evolution of the drug policy had been informed by moral panic, that punishment was counterproductive and legally frowned upon, that the principles of human rights had to be brought into the equation, and that the state had a responsibility to justify the status quo or provide an effective remedy. Referring to the very same principles that the AROD is defending therefore, the Prosecution Authority has supported regime change. In so doing, it has gone up against the Police Directorate, and we are now hoping for cooperation in the courts.
