Pubdate: Fri, 31 Jul 2009
Source: Helsinki Times (Finland)
Contact:  2009 Helsinki Times Oy
Website: http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/htimes/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/5067
Author: Matti Ramo
Translation: by Helsingin Sanomat
Cited: Finnish Cannabis Association http://users.lycaeum.org/~sky/
Cited: European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs 
http://www.espad.org/

CANNABIS CULTURE TAKES ROOT IN FINNISH PROVINCES

Homegrown cannabis has expanded tremendously and spread throughout
Finland, reports the national daily Helsingin Sanomat.

"'It is easy to find space for indoor cultivation in sparsely populated
areas where one doesn't have to worry about sharp-eyed neighbours. Also,
small, local police departments do not always have their own drug units
which are specialised in investigating this kind of crime," says Chief
Inspector Esa Gronlund of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), who
is specialised in drug-related crimes.

According to a conservative estimate by the NBI, there are at least 10,000
cannabis cultivators in Finland. The Finnish Cannabis Association (FCA)
believes the figure is 10,000-20,000.

The number of cannabis plant confiscations has increased considerably. In
2007 the police confiscated 7,600 hemp plants cultivated for drug use
nationwide. Last year the number of plants confiscated was as much as
14,000.

Urban youths' cannabis experimentation has declined in the 2000s, but in
the provinces hemp smoking is still on the rise. The change in the trend
can be seen in an ESPAD (European School Survey Project on Alcohol and
Other Drugs) intoxicant survey conducted for ninth grade students. In the
most recent survey in 2007, about seven per cent of all respondents
admitted to using cannabis.

The topic of youth cannabis use arose in Sastamala, when 16 inhabitants of
the small town in the Tampere Region were taken into police custody during
the RMJ Midsummer festival. The police investigation, which started at the
music event, has expanded to include around 50 people from Sastamala and
the surrounding area.

Most of the people involved are youths who were caught using home-grown
cannabis. For them, this is their first run-in with the police.

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