Control and Welfare in Danish Drug Policy

Abstract

In 2004 the Danish Parliament re-penalized possession of illegal drugs for personal consumption after 35 years of de-penalization. This article presents an analysis of this shift away from a relatively liberal drug policy and towards a more repressive drug policy and places it in a context of the shifting balances between control and welfare in Danish drug policy since 1955. The article analyzes the background for the first penalization of possession in 1955, de-penalization in 1969 and re-penalization in 2004, focusing particularly on how the drug using subject was constructed at these three important moments in the history of Danish drug policy. The article furthermore analyzes the changes in 1969 and 2004 as part of more general changes of welfare policy and penal policy in Denmark. The article is based on analyses of Danish drug legislation and policy documents.