Use of drugs leads to fines more easily than before

Researcher: Instead of fining, emphasis should be laid on directing to therapy

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Finns are getting fined for drug abuse more easily than before. This results from a five-year-old amendment to the legislation on drugs, an article of which includes mild offences as well.
      The fining practice has eased the pressure from district courts, which no longer have to deal with all drug-related misdemeanours.
      The National Research Institute of Legal Policy has looked into the effects of the amendment on penal practices.
      The main find of the study was that the penal practices have toughened.
     
In 2000, a year before the introduction of the amendment, there were 8,172 convictions for drug abuse, whereas in 2004 the corresponding figure was 11,755. The increase in the number of convictions was 44 percent, while - according to police resources - drug-related crime only increased by eight percent in the same time period.
      The most common penalty for personal drug abuse is a fine. Most of the fines are written by the police.
      The National Research Institute of Legal Policy suggests that emphasis should be laid on directing drug users to seek counselling and therapy. Between 2001 and 2003, in all the cases where charges were dropped there were only 178 referrals to seek treatment.
      According to the recent reports by Office of the Prosecutor General, the number of cases where drug offenders have sought treatment has dropped dramatically in recent years.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Dramatic increase in numbers caught driving under influence of drugs (23.4.2004)

Links:
  The National Research Institute of Legal Policy

Helsingin Sanomat