Svala Jóhannesdóttir, chairman of the Matthildur Harm Reduction Association, says she is seeing an increase in opioid and cocaine problems. People are using drugs from all walks of life in the country. The organisation runs a new resource called Reykur, which is a harm reduction service where people with drug problems can get clean equipment, advice and support.
Opioid and cocaine addiction is increasing and people regularly come who use cocaine, which is even more dangerous, according to the chairman of the Association. She believes that the current government policy in this area has backfired because despite record drug seizures, there are indications that both supply and demand have increased this year.
Law enforcement and customs have broken one Icelandic record after another in drug seizures this year. Officials believe that this is an indication of better methods but also that supply and demand here are greater than before.
Organised crime has never been as extensive in this country and is now similar to other Nordic countries, according to an administrator at the National Police Commissioner. Enormous amounts of drugs are flowing into the country in line with this development. It is therefore not surprising that one record after another has been broken in the seizure of drugs.
“Unfortunately, these seizures have not had any impact on the supply on the market or access to the substances. It is the same in other Nordic countries and internationally, i.e. although substances are seised on a large scale, the supply has not decreased there,” says Svala Jóhannesdóttir.
She feels an increase through the Reykur initiative, which is the organisation’s service for people who smoke opioids and stimulants. Smoking cocaine more dangerous
“We are seriously concerned because the opioid problem in the country is still increasing. Another thing we see is that people are developing a greater cocaine problem. We are also regularly receiving people who are smoking cocaine and it is an extremely complex drug problem,” says Svala.
Four foreign citizens have been arrested for a large-scale drug import in two separate cases in connection with the arrival of the ferry Norröna. It took customs officers many hours to find the substances that were carefully hidden in cars.
Svala says that addiction does not depend on a person’s diagnosis and that the group includes all kinds of people.
“These are people with drug problems from all walks of life in the country.”
Nearly Two Hundred Have Used The Service
A total of 170 people have contacted the organisation for the Reykur harm reduction service since it began in February this year. The service includes, for example, clean aluminum foil and glass pipes. Svala says she was surprised by how few in the group had sought help before.
“What has surprised me most is that the vast majority of people who have contacted us are not in any other service. We are really the only resource from which they receive support and harm reduction services,” says Svala.
A review of legislation is necessary “If we want to reduce the supply, availability and demand for these substances, we need to review our policies and legislation. Perhaps the first step would be to start looking at whether the current policies have yielded any results. The current prohibition and penal policy has not yielded the results that were hoped for,” says Svala.
Source: Visir.is (in Icelandic)
Further reading: What Iceland’s Cocaine Surge Says About Europe’s Saturated Drug Market / insightcrime.org