A district court attorney contends that, according to the Icelandic Constitution, the possession and personal use of marijuana is not a punishable offense.
District court attorney Gísli Tryggvason is representing a young woman who was found in position of about five grammes of marijuana during a search of her home, DV reports. After police took her sworn statement, Gísli added, “The possession and use of cannabis is unpunishable according to the Constitution.” He intends to forward this argument in court.
Gísli referred to Article 71, which guarantees that everyone “shall enjoy freedom from interference with privacy, home, and family life”, with the only exception being that “freedom from interference with privacy, home and family life may be otherwise limited by statutory provisions if this is urgently necessary for the protection of the rights of others.”
Gísli believes the personal use of marijuana in one’s own home must be considered relevant to the question of the right to privacy, and is therefore not punishable, constitutionally speaking.
The voices of decriminalisation of cannabis have been growing in recent years. As reported, Minister of Health Kristján Þór Júlíusson told a conference of young conservatives last January that “we ought to try to decriminalise [drug] use.” The September previous, former Supreme Court Justice Jón Steinar Gunnlaugsson came out in support of legalisation.
Further reading:
I Occasionally Do Drugs But I’m Fine
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