Finland buy marijuana

__________________________

📍 Verified store!

📍 Guarantees! Quality! Reviews!

__________________________

▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼ ▼▼

▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲ ▲▲

Finland buy marijuana

Cannabis policy and legislation in the Nordic countries. A report on the control of cannabis use and possession in the Nordic legal systems. Published by Nordic Welfare Centre, Iceland Magazine , August Drug use has been a penal offence in Finland since , regulated in the Criminal Code. The Finnish Criminal Code regulates both use, possession, manufacturing, growing, smuggling, selling, and dealing of narcotics. Finland has a restrictive drug policy, where the overall goal is to reduce the use and distribution of drugs in the Finnish society. This goal is pursued through criminalisation and control. Finland has in the last decade moved somewhat in the direction of harm reduction in its drug policy, and the current Governmental Action Plan on Drug Policy emphasises preventive measures, minimisation of harm, and protection of basic human rights Valtioneuvosto, The repressive control regime nevertheless prevails as the main preventive strategy. Drug offences are separated into three categories in the Finnish Criminal Code: drug-user offences , narcotics offences , and aggravated narcotics offences. Cannabis is not differentiated from any other drug in the Criminal Code, but according to consistently accepted practice, cannabis renders the most lenient penalties of the penal range The Office of the Prosecutor General, The penal latitude for this crime extends from fines to a maximum six-month imprisonment. The sentencing recommendations for cannabis are as follows:. Narcotics offences include illegal production, import, export, transport, spreading, and possession of drugs. The penal latitude for these offences stretches from fines to a two-year imprisonment. In the case of cannabis, the recommended penal latitude is as follows Helsinki Court of Appeal, :. A drug offence is considered aggravated when the substance is very dangerous or large quantities are involved, if the offence brings considerable financial profit or is part of an organised group offence, and if substances are distributed to minors or cause serious danger to the life or health of several people. The sentencing recommendations for cannabis are as follows Helsinki Court of Appeal, :. Medical Cannabis. Medical cannabis is legal in closely regulated circumstances in Finland. Since , it has been possible to grant a special permit for patients when other treatments have failed. Medical practitioners can apply for a permit from the Finnish Medicines Agency Fimea in order to be able to prescribe medical cannabis Sativex for a specific patient. Change in sight? The groups advocating decriminalisation user organisations, activists, and other people considering the question an important societal issue are not influential enough for the stakeholders to introduce legislative changes. Enforcement The Finnish police have a tradition on implementing drug laws strictly Kainulainen, The number of cases tells a similar story: A total of 27, drug law offences were recorded by the police, customs, and border control in Official Statistics of Finland, b. This number has been rising steadily from 13, reported drug offences back in The case of drug-impaired driving has in recent years won growing attention in Finland. Traffic control has become an important area of policing; the police identify intoxicated drivers by observing the way they drive Poliisi, c. When a person is suspected of drug-impaired driving, the police investigates both the offence of driving a motor vehicle under influence of drugs, and a drug use offence. It is up to the prosecutor to decide whether the person is charged for both crimes, or only for drug-impaired driving. The practice of oral reprimands for first-time drug use is in line with the idea of destigmatising rather than punishing. Government-financed campaigns directed to young people also have the same approach, even if not very prominently. Cannabis on the Finnish illicit drug market Cannabis products are the most popular substances on the Finnish drug market. While the police report of decreasing levels of confiscated hashish, marihuana has grown more important both in terms of numbers and quantities involved in confiscations. Today, imported marihuana and domestically cultivated cannabis are the most used cannabis products. Sanctions system Fines are the predominant sanction for drug offences. Even though a fine may appear as a lenient punishment, its effect is most uneven depending on the socioeconomic situation of the convict. In the case of cannabis, the conversion sentences therefore only concern breaches of the law on narcotic offences. Measures can be waived at all stages of the criminal justice system; by the police, prosecutor, or the judge. According to Kainulainen b , the sparse implementation is worrying. Cannabis users also face a substantial problem in that specific cannabis care programmes are almost non-existing in Finland Stenius, Sources for this chapter: 1. Cannabis policy and legislation in the Nordic countries A report on the control of cannabis use and possession in the Nordic legal systems Published by Nordic Welfare Centre, 2. Iceland - Opioids. Denmark - Opioids. Norway - Opioids. Sweden - Opioids. Finland - Opioids. Estonia - Political situation. Estonia - Pricing. Estonia - Marketing and advertising. Estonia - Availability. Estonia - Alcohol-related harm. Estonia - Alcohol and cancer. Estonia - Opioids. Comparability problem.

Is Marijuana Legal in Finland?

Finland buy marijuana

Cannabis use continues to increase worldwide, and a number of nation states are changing their cannabis policies. Policy changes require research into key populations, namely, people who use cannabis. This study aims to examine sociodemographic differences of young Finns who reported using cannabis mainly for self-medication versus mainly recreationally, as well as their reported effects of cannabis use. The authors focused on whether various demographic indicators differed between those who reportedly used cannabis mainly for recreational purposes and mainly for self-medicinal purposes. Being older and female, living in a smaller city and earlier age of initiation of cannabis use were statistically significant in predicting the medicinal use of cannabis. The majority of recreational effects were related to themes such as relaxation and pleasure, but many participants also reported desired medical effects. Similarly, many participants reported several undesired effects. This study gives a nuanced account of sociodemographic factors and motivations of young people who use cannabis in Finland as well as the reported effects it has on them, which complements data from national drug surveys. Hupli, A. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. European countries such as Germany, Malta, Luxembourg, The Netherlands and the Czech Republic have implemented or announced plans to legally regulate the non-medical use of cannabis Government of Luxembourg, ; Government of The Netherlands, ; Sabaghi, Recently drug policies have been under debate also in Finland Hakkarainen and Kainulainen, and other Nordic countries Tham, Nordic drug policies are said to be at a crossroad and affected by the situation and development in other European countries Tham, , p. In general, motivations for cannabis use vary; beyond numerous medical indications that cannabis-based medical products have been investigated and used in both clinical research and real-world settings Schlag et al. Studies from North America comparing medical and recreational cannabis users have found that medical cannabis users often report lower use of alcohol and other recreational drugs compared to recreational cannabis users, report more frequent cannabis use, and perhaps not surprisingly, report more health-related problems, both physical and psychological Goulet-Stock et al. Thus, medical and recreational cannabis use are not mutually exclusive, and the use of cannabis for medical reasons often happens without an official prescription, blurring the boundary between medical and recreational use Hakkarainen et al. Cognitive enhancement among university students is also a reported motivation to use cannabis Franke et al. In addition, entheogenic or spiritual use of cannabis has been reported Johnstad, ; Heide et al. Thus, motivations for cannabis use can go beyond merely recreational or medical, as the validated Marijuana Motives Measure developed by Simons et al. Motivations include enhancement, coping, conformity, expansion and social motives Simons et al. It is also important to note that as demonstrated by these different motivations, people who use cannabis do not form a homogenous group, and although we focus on medical and recreational motives and related factors in this study, these groupings are, in part, constructs to aid the data analysis. It has been estimated from the national drug survey data that 2,—5, people in Finland used cannabis mainly for medical reasons but without an official prescription Hakkarainen and Karjalainen, It is likely that this amount has increased since then with the general increase of cannabis use among the Finnish population Karjalainen et al. However, despite medical cannabis being legal to prescribe for over a decade in Finland, practically no domestic clinical research has been done in this field, and prescription prevalence has decreased in recent years from about in to in and to around in Honkasalo, ; Vihervaara and Hupli, Fewer than 50 prescriptions were given in the first half of , as reported in the media Harmaala, This is counter to global trends; for example, in Australia between and , more than , medicinal cannabis prescriptions were approved Henderson et al. In The Netherlands, the number of medical cannabis prescriptions also increased from 6. These comparisons exemplify that taking the country-context into consideration is important when researching medical and non-medical use of various drug technologies Hupli, , including cannabis Hakkarainen et al. This local context would also require research into local use practices, for example, in Finland, smoking has been the most prevalent way of using cannabis Despite the criminalization of use for more than half a century Hakkarainen and Kainulainen, , the prevalence of cannabis use has increased in Finland since the s, especially among young adults Karjalainen et al. Young people, in particular, increasingly perceive that cannabis use should not be punished, and the general perceptions of risks around cannabis use have somewhat abated Karjalainen et al. However, great variability exists, for instance, among age groups. An international cannabis grower study also found that medical growers reported using cannabis more frequently than recreational growers Hakkarainen et al. Our study aims to fill the gap in the research by exploring factors associated with medical and recreational cannabis use. It is important to focus on people who use cannabis in Finland, especially younger people because research about their lived experiences is limited. People who use cannabis continue to have a marginalized position in Finnish society Kekoni, , as do people who use illegalized drugs in general Hakkarainen and Kainulainen, This is reflected in the way young people find it difficult to talk about their cannabis use due to its illegal status because they are afraid it might affect their school, work or private life Holma et al. Our study hence provides further information on this key population. The research questions of this study were as follows: RQ1. What are the main demographic differences between people who use cannabis in Finland for recreational purposes and those who use it for self-medication? The study participants were relatively young Finns. There were Finnish respondents in the data, males, 64 females, 4 missing gender data, 4 who did not want to declare their gender and 2 others. Our study was based on data collected in an evaluation study of the project Intervention for Young Cannabis Users —, funded by the European Social Fund Hupli, The project developed a cannabis mini-intervention model and several other harm-reduction tools for health and welfare professionals see www. The first author designed the study protocol. Data collection was done by an anonymous online survey on the Surveypal platform. It was launched on 17 April and remained open until 31 August The online survey had a national focus, and it was distributed by the first author and two Finnish non-governmental organizations responsible for the intervention project, the Finnish Association for Substance Abuse Prevention and Youth Against Drugs, mainly on social media. However, people over 30 also responded to the survey. These were filtered out in the original evaluation report Hupli, but included in our analysis. The design of the evaluation study and related research ethics were approved by a multidisciplinary steering committee of the mentioned intervention project before launching the study. Participation was voluntary, and they were informed about the aims of the study. Three digital gift cards worth 20 euros were offered as a raffle prize for those who participated. No personal information was collected that could be used to identify the respondents, and the data were kept safe in an external computer requiring a password. We also follow the general guidelines of the international research ethics guidelines e. We provide information on the sample in regard to the most common type of cannabis used in the past month as well as the most common method of use in Supplementary Tables 1 and 2. As these were asked in an extra section of the survey, we were not able to distinguish and compare these use practices between respondents who used cannabis mainly for recreational purposes and those who mainly used it medically. However, we believe this information is valuable to share to contextualize the findings and the sample. However, the main interest of the study relied on the differences between those who use cannabis for mainly recreational purposes and those who use it mainly for self-medication purposes. Independent variables included gender, age, education, city size, frequency of cannabis use, amount used and onset age of use. Thus, the analysis included observations. Similarly, we asked about the quantity they used, with options ranging from 0. The scores were converted to a scale ranging from 1 to 19, with a mean of 6. The respondents were also asked via open-ended questions about their experienced effects of cannabis use in an extra section of the survey. Thus, these qualitative reports could not be coupled with the quantitative data of the survey. The desired effects were categorized based on the content along recreational or medical use. The desired medical effects were categorized under psychological, somatic and psychosomatic effects Table 4. Some respondents also reported undesired societal effects and some did not have or did not report undesired effects Table 5. The exploratory nature of the study includes both qualitative and quantitative methods based on a relatively small sample size. The questionnaire items were designed to better understand the profiles of young people who use cannabis, which resulted in inquiries about their demographic characteristics and cannabis engagement. Statistical models were conducted with multiple logistic regression MLR. The R programme was used to conduct the MLR analysis, and recreational cannabis use served as the baseline for comparison. We also report goodness-of-fit tests and pseudo coefficients of determination. For the respondents, descriptive statistics and unweighted frequency distributions of variables were examined Table 1. Until the age of 24, a majority of respondents said they used cannabis primarily for recreational purposes. No significant difference was observed in the distribution of onset age and monthly usage across cannabis use purposes. Although the mean age of onset for medical cannabis use is slightly lower The Hosmer—Lemeshow test was used for the goodness-of-fit test, which determines whether the observed event rates match the expected event rates in population subgroups Hosmer et al. Results show that the p -value was 0. Out of seven independent variables, four were found to be significant predictors of cannabis use for medical purposes after adjusting for other factors. For gender, after adjusting for all the confounders, the OR was 3. Therefore, the odds of using cannabis for medical purposes are more than three times higher for females than it is for males. Looking at age, after adjusting for all the confounders, the OR was 1. Living in a smaller city is also an important predictor of cannabis use for medical purposes. The OR was 0. The participants were asked through open-ended questions about their desired and undesired effects relating to their use of cannabis. The questions were part of an extra section of the survey and could not be coupled with the quantitative data of the main part. Many respondents listed several desired recreational effects due to which Table 3 showing recreational effects has more categorizations than the total number of respondents. Each response was assigned a maximum of two categorizations. The table shows the categorization percentage in proportion to the number of respondents, and each category is illustrated with example answers that have been translated from Finnish to English by the first author. Similar to reported medical effects, the answers related to undesired effects were thematically grouped as psychological, somatic and psychosomatic undesired effects. Some respondents reported undesired societal effects and some did not report undesired effects. Table 5 shows the categorization percentage in proportion to the number of responses for all reported undesired effects, then those reporting more undesired effects from recreational use and finally, those reporting undesired effects from medical use. These are illustrated with example answers. Proportionally the medical and recreational groups do not seem to differ greatly in terms of undesired effects. Also, qualitatively the reported undesired effects did not differ greatly between the two groups. In relation to psychological undesired effects, impaired memory and increased anxiety were commonly reported by both groups. Dry mouth and eyes, as well as headache, were common undesired somatic effects. Feeling fatigued or tired was also commonly reported, which was categorized under psychosomatic undesired effects. Illegality was the most common societal undesired effect. About a quarter in both groups did not report any undesired effects. What is noticeable is that occasionally the reported undesired effects are the exact opposite of the desired effects. For instance, sometimes when the desired effect is reported to be calming, relaxing or otherwise anxiolytic, the undesired effect is reported to be increased anxiety. In this study, we analysed the demographic differences between young adults who reported using cannabis mainly for recreational purposes and compared them to those who use cannabis mainly for medical reasons in Finland. Our quantitative analysis showed that the sociodemographic factors of being older and female, living in a smaller city and an earlier onset age of initiating cannabis use were statistically significant in predicting motives for medical cannabis use. This finding is somewhat in line with a survey study from Denmark looking at medical cannabis users, which found that especially CBD oil-only users were often older women Kvamme et al. However, CBD oil-only users had initiated their use recently, unlike in our sample, and had little recreational experience. The survey was also directed to Danes who used cannabis as medicine in particular, so it is difficult to make concrete comparisons between the studies. However, as in the study by Kvamme et al. Similarly, many participants from both studies reported undesired effects ranging from psychological ones like memory problems and increased anxiety to somatic undesired effects like dry mouth and headache. The study by Kvamme et al. Sometimes the reported desired and undesired effects were polar opposites, the reported desired effect being, for instance, feeling less anxious while the reported undesired effect was reported as increased anxiety. Several factors influence the effects from cannabis, which is not a single drug as it contains hundreds of chemical compounds Andre et al. While we provide some general information on self-reported types and methods of cannabis use see Supplementary Tables 1 and 2 , we were not able to match these between the groups of users. In addition, the actual consumed cannabinoid content would have remained unknown, not only to us, the researchers, but most likely to the people who use cannabis as well, partly due to its illegal status in Finland and most European countries. Thus, while the information on motives and effects of cannabis use in Finland remains limited, we believe our study can guide future research endeavours and also provide real-world evidence about desired and undesired effects from cannabis use and the often blurred boundary between recreational and medical cannabis. The results, in part, confirm the blurred boundary between recreational and medical use of cannabis found in earlier studies Hakkarainen et al. For instance, several participants in our study reported medical use mostly or primarily as their motivation to use cannabis and experienced a variety of desired medical effects. This was despite the relatively young age of the participants, although motivation for medical use also increased with age. Nonetheless, young people who use cannabis are often not seen as potentially using cannabis for medical purposes, which is an important factor to consider also from a harm reduction perspective. Motivating someone to stop using cannabis, or at least use less, can be challenging if there are perceived medical benefits from that use. This shows that the line between medical and recreational use, in general, is not clear-cut; young people often try to balance between desired and undesired effects of a variety of psychoactive drugs, including cannabis Hupli et al. People who use cannabis often report both medical and recreational cannabis use motives Ogborne et al. Young people have perceptions in relation to cannabis and what works in terms of drug prevention that should be considered when designing prevention and harm reduction programmes as well as treatment services Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, ; Hupli, ; Holma et al. Although survey studies on this issue are mixed Chong et al. However, they did find increased alcohol and tobacco use Vanderbruggen et al. In Finland, Oksanen et al. While our study remains speculative on this issue, the impact of COVID pandemic on drug use, in general, remains a topic worth investigating Chong et al. Important in this regard is not only the type of drug but the method of use. Smoking cannabis continues to be the most common route of administration both in Finland Hakkarainen and Karjalainen, and, for instance, North America Russell et al. Use of cannabis by smoking was the most common method of use in our data set as well; more than half of the participants also mixed tobacco when using cannabis, increasing health-related risks Russell et al. Researching and discussing various types of inhalation methods, including vaping, which as a route of administration has less of a public health effect Russell et al. Knapp et al. To conclude, our findings raise several questions that should be explored in future studies; for instance, is there a transition period related to age when mainly recreational use of cannabis becomes more medically motivated, as our findings suggest? What can explain the significant relation between urban settings of large cities versus smaller ones that seem to influence motivations to use cannabis, and what makes women more prone to use cannabis for medical reasons compared to men and vice versa? Although the statistically significant results and reported effects found in this study require confirmation from larger and more representative data samples, they give direction and insight into where to focus future research efforts as cannabis use continues to increase both in Finland Karjalainen et al. As legislation alone, whether lenient or punitive, does not seem to have an impact on youth cannabis use prevalence in Europe Gabri et al. Our study was limited to Finland, limiting its generalizability to other countries as well by its cross-sectional design and self-reported information also in relation to reported motivations and experienced effects of cannabis use. In addition, even though the survey was nationwide, the geographic distribution of participants was uneven, and we have fewer respondents from the capital area of Helsinki than expected. Several questions related to cannabis use were asked in a relatively short extra section, and the survey did not ask about other substance use besides cannabis, except if they mix tobacco when smoking cannabis. Nor did it inquire in detail about several other confounding factors, like health status or experiences with health services, that could play a significant role in explaining reported effects and motivations. While the amount and type of cannabis, method of use and possible simultaneous use of other drugs, like tobacco and alcohol, most likely have an impact on the experienced effects and motivations, further studies are needed to provide information on these confounding factors. Despite these limitations, our exploratory study provides important insights into a population of which there is a very limited amount of information about, namely young adults who use cannabis in Finland. Future studies should include additional measures on subjective well-being and health behaviours that could also give more insights into people who use cannabis for medical and other purposes. Our quantitative analysis of survey data shows that sociodemographic factors such as being older and female, living in a smaller city, and earlier age of initiation of cannabis use are statistically significant in predicting the medicinal use of cannabis. Qualitative analysis of reported desired and undesired effects also showed that although the majority of recreational effects are related to themes such as relaxation and pleasure, many participants also reported desired medical effects, ranging from finding relief for psychological problems such as ADHD, depression, sleep disorders, bipolar disorder and anxiety but also somatic and psychosomatic symptoms related to multiple sclerosis, pain and inflammation. Similarly, many participants reported undesired effects ranging from memory problems and increased anxiety to dry mouth and the fear of being caught engaging in illegal activities. Both proportionally and qualitatively, the undesired effects did not differ greatly between those who reported desired medical effects versus recreational ones, even though recreational users reported somewhat more psychosomatic undesired effects and medical users more undesired societal effects. Understanding and communicating also about undesired effects is important to enhance the well-being of young people who use cannabis and in designing relevant harm reduction and treatment programmes. Andre , C. Braun , V. Benschop , A. Bonnet , U. Chong , W. Ekendahl , M. Fox , C. Franke , A. Gabri , A. Goulet-Stock , S. Grotenhermen , F. Hakkarainen , P. Harmaala , M. Heide , F. Henderson , L. Holma , P. Honkasalo , V. Hosmer , D. Hupli , A. Johnstad , P. Karjalainen , K. Kekoni , T. Tampere University Press. Knapp , A. Kuhn , M. Kvamme , S. Lake , S. Lemyre , A. Lin , L. McFadden , D. Moeller , K. Ogborne , A. Oksanen , A. Prowse , R. Roy-Byrne , P. Russell , C. Sabaghi , D. Published 4th of November , available at: www. Savonen , J. Schlag , A. Schoeler , T. Simons , J. Stith , S. Tham , H. Tjur , T. Unlu , A. Vanderbruggen , N. Van Schipstal , I. Vihervaara , M. Wadsworth , E. Woodruff , S. Riboulet-Zemouli , K. Otto A. Malm Lahjoitusrahasto. Personal grant for A. Suomen Kulttuurirahasto. The authors would like to thank the reviewers and the participants of Addiktio seminar at Tampere University as well as Huumeseula seminar organised at the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare for their comments and suggestions for this manuscript. Please share your general feedback. Contact Customer Support. Article Supplementary Material Abstract Purpose Cannabis use continues to increase worldwide, and a number of nation states are changing their cannabis policies. Findings Being older and female, living in a smaller city and earlier age of initiation of cannabis use were statistically significant in predicting the medicinal use of cannabis. What kinds of desired and undesired effects from cannabis do they report? Figure 1 Predicted probabilities of medical cannabis use. Appetite and sweet tooth increase. Mild anxiety sometimes. Supplementary materials Supplementary materials of this article can be found online. Aleksi Hupli can be contacted at: aleksi. Related articles. All feedback is valuable Please share your general feedback. Report an issue or find answers to frequently asked questions Contact Customer Support. Monthly usage a. R 2 Tjur 0.

Finland buy marijuana