Denmark has long had a reputation as a progressive, liberal society. These attitudes were tested in 1971 when a group of people took over abandoned military housing in the middle of Copenhagen and established a commune-like settlement named Christiania. Within the limits of Christiania, "soft" drugs such as cannabis and hashish were permitted and freely sold at open-air stands.
Since its establishment, Christiania has had its ups and downs. At various times, police have decided to encroach on the freedoms of the settlement, and at other times they have worked out compromises. Trade in harder drugs has arisen and has been eliminated. Today, Christiania residents still permit the sale and use of soft drugs.
Outside of Christiania, it is a different story. Use or sale of any drugs, hard or soft, is illegal in Denmark. However, while Denmark has active social programs aimed at prevention, treatment, harm reduction and supply control, it still has the third-highest rate of drug deaths in Europe.
Many of those entering substance abuse treatment programs in Denmark are seeking help for opiate addiction, but these numbers are falling slightly in comparison to those seeking help for cannabis and stimulants such as cocaine and amphetamine. Each year, 250 people due from drug abuse, with heroin overdoses most often involved in the deaths. Only Luxembourg and Estonia have higher rates of death from substance abuse. Most of the time, more than one drug is involved in a drug-related death.
The great majority of those entering drug programs, whether residential treatment or outpatient treatment, are poly-drug users. And only about a third of those entering treatment centers are new to the system, which means two-thirds failed after their prior substance abuse treatment.
In 2009, it became possible to be "prescribed" heroin as part of a harm reduction program. Heroin addicts can receive two doses of diamorphine, pharmaceutical-grade heroin, each day as a way to keep them from committing crimes for their drugs, and to prevent them from overdosing due to heroin supplies that might be higher potency than usual.
The European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs collects figures on substance use and abuse among 15 and 16 year olds from many European countries. In their 2007 report, 94 percent of Danish young people reported using alcohol in the last year, and 73 percent of them reported having been drunk. Twenty-five percent reported cannabis use at least once in their lifetime.
This is the second-highest rate of alcohol use in the young of all the countries surveyed. Only the Czech Republic was higher at 95 percent. Danish students also reported large quantities drunk and high levels of drunkenness in the last 30 days.
Among the general population, it is common for alcohol abuse to take place in conjunction with cocaine abuse. Often this poly-drug consumption takes place at nightclubs in the urban areas.
In 1986, a Narconon drug rehabilitation center was opened in Morkov, Denmark, 85 miles from Copenhagen. They are fully licensed by their local authorities to provide drug treatment and alcohol abuse treatment for those suffering from dependence or addiction. The residential treatment center is also fully certified as a non-profit organization, devoted only to saving lives from overdoses and addiction.
The purpose of this long-term, residential treatment program is to give addicts the tools they need to build a new, fully drug-free life. When an addicted person can become drug-free for life, this is far better than providing a substitute drug or practicing "harm reduction" which means trying to teach a person who is abusing drugs and alcohol how to do it more "safely" because it is thought that no effective solution exists.
In Narconon, that solution to drug use does exist. The director of one company in Denmark sent a letter to the Narconon drug program in Morkov, telling them that he had, over the years, sent five employees to the center for residential treatment. All five of them were still doing well, were hard-working, responsible staff with good values. Four of them were still working for him and one of them was working for a company with which he was associated. Government officials in Norway have even sent people to the Morkov substance abuse treatment center, as there are no Narconons yet open in Norway.
Internationally, seven out of ten graduates of the drug and alcohol rehabilitation program at Narconon stay clean of drinking or drug abuse after their graduation.
The Narconon rehab center in Morkov participates in drug education and prevention classes and events in their community. They provide educational materials to schools and parents as well as advising parents on how to talk to their children to help keep them safe from drug abuse.