Reykjavík Grapevine - 09.05.2014, Side 14

14
Gourmet Experience
- Steaks and Style at Argentina Steakhouse
Barónsstíg 11 - 101 Reykjavík
Tel: 551 9555
argentina.is
Continued...
currently are, and to get the private sector
more involved in them, a message that
the head of the People’s Front Þorvaldur
Þorvaldsson strongly opposed. Þorvaldur
stressed the importance of the city reign-
ing in the private sector.
The Progressive Party’s Hreiðar
Eiríksson said his party wants to greatly
boost immigrants’ access to information,
as human rights are worthless if people
aren’t aware of them. He also said that
the banks own 500 apartments that are
currently empty and that putting them
on the rental market would drive prices
down, which would greatly benefit the
low income and immigration popula-
tion.
The Social Democrats : 26.6% (4 seats)
Bright Future: 21.6% (4 seats)
Dawn: 0.2% (0 seats)
The Pirate Party: 10.5% (1 seat)
The Left-Green Party: 8.7% (1 seat)
The Independence Party: 27% (5 seats)
The Progressive Party: 5.2% (0 seats)
Others 0.2%
The poll was commissioned by daily pa-
per Fréttablaðið. On April 29, 802 people
were polled, of which 73.6% responded.
Start Your Own Party
For those not interested in any of the
parties that are running, the deadline to
register a new party is May 10. Interested
parties will need:
* A catchy name for a party and some
kind of a platform.
* Fifteen people on the ballot, all of
which are legal residents of Reykjavík
and 18 or older.
* 160 residents of Reykjavík to express
support for the new party.
* Two ombudsmen to take responsibility
for the list.
CORRECTION:
In last issue's election guide we incor-
rectly referred to Halldór Halldórsson as
the current mayor of Ísafjörður when he
is in fact the former mayor.
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The Latest Poll Numbers
14
I Occasionally Do
Drugs But I'm Fine
Opinion | Drugs
I like taking drugs occasionally. Especially
alcohol, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine and
magic mushrooms. I don't do drugs very
often but I'll give an honest estimate of just
how much:
Alcohol
3x a week (3–6 drinks 1x, 1–2 drinks 2x)
Marijuana,
1x a week (half to one joint)
Ecstasy/MDMA
4–6x a year (one pill/100–200 mg)
Cocaine
4x a year (a few lines/150–250 mg)
Psilocybin mushrooms
2x a year (full palm of dried mushrooms)
This has been going on for about six years,
only I drink considerably less now than I
used to. I have never missed a day of work
due to drug use and none of my personal,
professional, romantic or familial relation-
ships have suffered. I have never gotten
into a fistfight. I have not had suicidal
thoughts or lapses of depression. I have
not developed a dependency on any of
these drugs (I don't 'crave' them and dry
spells (common on this island) don't up-
set me). And I have definitely not tried to
chew off my face.
Drugs Vs. Horseback Riding
So people like me exist. And I'm not alone.
I have many friends whose patterns of
drug use are similar. Like me, they're in-
telligent and successful. They're entrepre-
neurs, programmers, up-and-coming poli-
ticians, government or municipal workers,
bankers, artists and advertising or TV folk.
Drugs haven't seized our life, we just like
getting high sometimes.
When I went to university in Eu-
rope, I would hardly go to parties where
people weren’t smoking weed and guests
wouldn't be shy to suggest popping a pill
and heading to a club. But the discourse in
Iceland doesn't acknowledge us. An inter-
view with a casual MDMA user published
in the supplement Monitor a few months
ago caused a stir because discussing the
drug in any other way than detailing its
potentially harmful effects is unaccept-
able.
Interestingly enough, this is despite
the most detailed and far-reaching study
ever to have been published on the subject
(in the journal Addiction, Feb 2011) re-
vealing that MDMA does not cause brain
damage. It is not considered addictive. Its
consumption is considered less of a health
risk than alcohol consumption. And what
is defined as "acute harm" to an MDMA
user occurs in about 1 in every 10,000 us-
ers whereas the same statistic, applied to
horse riding, is 350 in every 10,000 riders.
This comparison, made by Prof. David
Nutt, the former chair of the UK Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs, helped
him lose his job—not because it's untrue,
but because it's counter to policy. In other
words, the truth is secondary to maintain-
ing the illusion of harm. Why don't we
approach the question of drugs scientifi-
cally instead of clinging to myths and ru-
mours?
Fewer Addicts
Now, I know that the drugs I take aren't
exactly healthy. But the harm, science has
demonstrated, is (with the exception of
cocaine) no more than the harm the le-
gally available drugs, alcohol and tobacco,
can do. Why do we prioritise a drug that
makes us aggressive, sleepy, and gives us
awful hangovers? Personally, I much pre-
fer the all-enveloping feeling of love that
comes with ecstasy or the amplification
of one's senses when stoned. If all options
are equally harmful/harmless, why don't I
have a choice?
Of course I acknowledge the drug
related tragedies out there. I know that I
am fortunate to lead a happy and stable
life with a job and people who love and
support me. I realise that for less fortu-
nate people, drugs might become a type
of escape. I also realise that some are for
whatever physical or psychological reasons
more prone to substance dependency than
I am. But regardless of what is legal these
groups will find their 'drug' of choice. It
will probably be alcohol and cigarettes,
but it might be anything: Ritalin, promis-
cuous sex, sugar, abusive relationships
or something comparatively healthy like
religion or sports. Only when the drug
has been proven to induce massive de-
pendency in the user should we blame the
substance itself. In other cases, we should
focus on the underlying social and psycho-
logical factors and try to battle them.
In countries that have legalised or
decriminalised drugs, the money accu-
mulated from taxing the sale of these sub-
stances and/or the money saved in the po-
lice and penal institutions from not having
to enforce drug laws and incarcerate of-
fenders is usually rerouted into the health
sector to help people deal with addictions
and to educate young people on the poten-
tial dangers of drug use. In Portugal, for
example, this has resulted in less drug use
than before and fewer addicts. This must
be our end goal.
Safer Drugs—More Tax Money
Unfortunately, my habit has helped line
the pockets of violent criminals. The gov-
ernment could easily, overnight almost,
take over their business and pocket heaps
of tax money. The local cannabis market
alone is worth billions of krónur. Legalis-
ing drugs would both erode the founda-
tion of organised crime in Iceland and
help bridge the gaps in the State's budget.
And this is not counting the profits that
could be made from exporting marijuana.
Sceptics should note that weed farming is
already a billion-dollar industry in the US
and Canada.
Moreover, regulating the production
of drugs would help make them safer.
THC levels in cannabis could be capped
and minimum CBD levels required
(both alkaloids are found in the cannabis
plant; THC is thought be responsible for
negative side-effects of marijuana such
as memory impairment, whereas CBD is
believed to combat these effects). Traces
of harmful compounds regularly found
in street drugs due to poor production cir-
cumstances would be eliminated, making
drugs safer. The potency would be printed
along with warnings on the packaging,
greatly reducing the risk of accidental over-
dosing.
Humans like intoxication. We always
have. With regard to alcohol and tobacco,
we have understood this and put in place
a system that regulates the production,
sale and distribution of these drugs. Ille-
gal drugs aren't going anywhere and the
current weapons employed against abuse
aren't working. The World Health Organi-
zation has declared the 'War on Drugs' a
failure and suggested decriminalisation,
Portugal and Holland have decriminal-
ised drugs, some US states have legalised
marijuana, in other parts of North Amer-
ica it's criminality is not enforced, and
Uruguay has fully legalised weed. Even
Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, the President of
Iceland, echoed these sentiments during a
panel on drug policy a year ago. Let's just
hope that the government gets creative
and follows suit as soon as possible.
P.S. I write this letter anonymously for two
reasons: First, because I detail drug use
above that is, after all, illegal. Publishing
the letter under my name could incrimi-
nate me. Second, and more importantly,
because drug use is heavily stigmatised.
In the current climate, these confessions
could cost me my job and future career
opportunities, harm relations with certain
friends, cause my family much inconve-
nience and so forth.
Dear Grapevine.
I'm an Icelandic male in my early thirties. I've been mar-
ried two years and my wife and I rent an apartment
in central Reykjavík. I graduated from a well-known
design institution in a major European city. I used to
work in advertising but I've recently started working for
a start-up. I usually score somewhere around 130 on
online IQ tests, which translates to 'gifted'. I'm in good
shape; I go to the gym regularly and am an avid cyclist.
The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 5 — 2014
Anonymous is in his early thirties, has been married
two years and graduated from a well-known design
institution in a major European city.

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