Drugs around the world.

[Lenin McCarthy]

In July 2011, the Norwegian Minister of Justice announced a new and exciting way of dealing with young people convicted for minor drug offenses, because putting them in prison obviously doesn't work. It is called "motivational dialogue". The idea is, let the little criminal talk to someone who can help them make better choices and become better and more motivated persons (without drugs, of course).  "This is a new and exciting way of dealing with young people convicted for minor drug offenses, because putting them in prison obviously doesn't work," the Minister of Justice said enthusiastically to a group of journalists at a press conference.

It is June 2012, and we're in a sleepy little town in the south-eastern part of the country. In a small room in the basement of the local police station sits a slightly confused police officer. A couple of days ago he was delegated to hold the first "motivational dialogue" in this small and largely uninteresting police district. The Justice Department had sent out a document that described the concept in detail, but he had put it down after a few pages. He couldn't make much out of the vague and bureaucratic language. Better to just improvise, then, he thought. He was going to talk to a 17 year old kid who had been caught by the police with a few grammes of cannabis on him. Who knows, maybe I'll make a difference to a young person's life today. Perhaps he's been using it to escape from an abusive family, and he just needs someone to talk to. Or maybe ...we'll see.

Just before 18:00, the appointed time for the dialogue, a young man enters the room. This is definitely not the lethargic and worn out high school dropout he had expected. This is a well-dressed and charming young man, who confidently shakes his hand and introduces himself as if this is just another business meeting. He is about to finish his second year of high school, he has good grades and in his spare time he enjoys engaging in politics and playing the piano, apparently. 

The policeman is at loss for words:  "You seem like an intelligent and well-reflected young man, right. But why did you do this? It doesn't make sense."

"I suppose you don't understand," the young man began, "because you refuse to admit the possibility that one can in fact make a rational, well thought out decision to take drugs. Before I decided to buy myself those grammes of cannabis that you so helpfully confiscated from me, I consulted several peer-reviewed scientific reports on the effects of cannabis usage. I made sure I had been mentally stable for long enough. I consulted experienced users on where to get the best possible quality for the lowest possible price. It was all one hell of a personal cost-benefit analysis, and when the motivational dialogue shit was introduced last year it finally tipped in the direction of me deciding to try it out. It seemed fun, and the consequences seemed minimal as long as I managed to avoid getting addicted to it. Also, drug prohibition is pissing me off. People shouldn't be put in prison for doing things that only harm themselves, they should be offered treatment. People shouldn't be punished at all for doing things that does no harm to anything or anybody. A handful of people I know have smoked pot. They're no different from us normal people, and I don't think any of them have taken any harm from it *. The prohibition is in conflict with the scientific evidence, it feeds a large illegal economy, it is resource-demanding for the authorities, and harmful for most of the parties involved. Now that doesn't make sense."

The policeman thought about this for a few seconds before he answered.
"I guess I'll have to file a charge for possession of illegal substances for you then. See you in court!"

* One of them started thinking she was a burrowing rodent, but that stopped after a while.