– Far from everyone who is as lucky

The short version

• Left-wing politician Grunde Almeland believes that today’s drug policy creates a greater class divide in Oslo.
• Almeland points out that people in the east of Oslo receive harsher sentences despite minor drug offenses than those in the west.
• He refers to surveys and NRK’s ​​report from 2019 that support his view.
• Marian Hussein (SV) agrees that there are disturbing biases in the enforcement of the law.

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The left-wing spokesperson is annoyed by today’s drug policy. He calls it hostile to the city.

– People who live in Oslo East are traditionally punished much more severely for minor drug offenses than people in Oslo West, despite the fact that drug consumption is higher in the West than in the East.

People from poorer circumstances have a greater chance of being negatively affected by being caught with narcotic drugs, according to Almeland. He refers to a survey in the Journal. NRK reported the same trends in 2019.

– When the punishments are so unevenly distributed between Oslo east and west, the result is a class-divided city, where the differences become even greater.

After FpU leader Simen Velles told about his previous drug conviction, several people pointed out the differential treatment between Oslo’s east end and west end.

As an 18-year-old, Velle was sentenced to a 30-day suspended prison sentence for keeping 100 grams of marijuana together with two others. He was also caught at a party with one gram of cannabis and 0.2 grams of cocaine. Then he got an assignment.

Velle is from Asker. It is located west of Oslo in Akershus, outside the city limits.

– Do you think that Simen Velle, as a white man from the western edge, has escaped more easily?

– All of us who are white men, myself included, have privileges in society, but whether it has worked out in this individual case is more difficult to say, says Almeland.

Several youth politicians have paid tribute to Velle after the recognition. He was described by Unge Høyre as even more qualified for the Storting.

– It is far from everyone who is as lucky as Simen Velle, and actually gets new opportunities to succeed later in life, he says.

I think Velle is lucky

Almeland hopes the Velle case can cause people to open their eyes to how Norwegian drug policy has extremely skewed results when it comes to punishment and consequences for further career opportunities.

He believes that not everyone is as lucky as Simen Velle, and actually gets new opportunities to succeed later in life.

– If Velle had lived on the eastern edge and had darker skin, statistically his opportunities could have been much worse.

The so-called Young in Oslo surveys from 2015 to 2021 show that 15.5 percent of young people in the western districts state that they have used hashish or marijuana in the past year. In the east, the figure is 11.9 per cent, according to Journalen.

At the same time, police records show that far more young people are reported for drug offenses in the east than in the west, even when differences in population are taken into account.

The Oslo police then explained that certain parts of the city are more exposed to crime than others, and thus the police have a higher effort in certain parts of the city, and that therefore they uncover more crime in these areas, he says.

Call it disturbing

Almeland in Venstre is not the only one who has pointed out that skin color and economic background can have something to say about the outcome when someone is caught for drug use.

– There are certainly disturbing signs that there are biases in how the law is enforced, and it must be addressed. Such biases are just a recipe for mistrust between the police and parts of the population, nobody benefits from it, says Marian Hussein (SV) .

In the same way as Almeland in the Liberal Party, she also believes that an important reason why I want a drug reform that ensures that those who need it get help, not punishment

– Do you think young white men from the western edge get away easier?

– There are many signs that this may be the case, such as more people being arrested in some eastern districts, even though more people report using cannabis in some western districts. There can of course be several reasons why it is like that, but it creates an unfortunate impression of the injustice in society, says Hussein.

Hussein himself is from east Oslo. But have not grown up in a particularly harsh environment.

– At the same time, both at Stovner and in Oslo, I have met people who needed help and support, but who slipped into drug addiction because the community did not stand up.

– We must give these people the opportunity to get help without risking punishment and unwanted attention from the police. We need a policy that sees the whole person.

Includes the west edge in new effort

Oslo police district refers VG to their answer in the Journalen.

– Certain districts in Oslo are more prone to crime than others, there is an expectation from the population that the police work harder to stop crime there. This means that the police have a higher effort in certain parts of the city, and that the police uncover more crime in these areas, said Rune Swahn, head of the preventive unit in the Oslo police then.

Oslo police district works with youth and prevention at all three geographical operational units in the east, west and centre.

The law is not enforced differently at the units, but the crime picture can be different, they write.

The police in Oslo also point out that they recently put forward a new effort to contribute to safety and prevent crime.

– The priority areas are Grønland, Tøyen, Majorstuen, Sandvika, Asker centre, Furuset, Mortensrud/Bjørnerud, Veitvet and Bjørndal.

The police must prioritize investigation and follow-up of children and young people who commit crime and who are exposed to crime in these areas.

– This means that the police will have an extra presence with both uniformed and civilian patrols, informs Oslo Police’s press chief Unni T. Grøndal.