1. Anniken Hauglie, Commissioner, City Of Oslo
Department of Welfare and Social Affairs
Chairman, honourable guests.
Thank you so much for inviting me to this session.
Anniken Hauglie, Commissioner, City Of Oslo

2. The City government goal is:
City of Oslo
Department of Welfare and Social Affairs
The City government goal is:
prevent alcohol and drug abuse among young people
create comprehensive and coordinated services for drug abusers
offer rehabilitation and primary care for the most vulnerable
The city government has some goals, which I do believe we share with all of you:
To prevent alcohol and drug abuse
Create comprehensive and coordinated services
Offer rehabilitation and primary care

3. Challenges Open drug scene Problems concerning acute housing
City of Oslo
Department of Welfare and Social Affairs
Challenges
Open drug scene
Problems concerning acute housing
Overdose deaths and lack of treatment
But we have several challenges in Oslo. This is three of them: open drug scene, problems conserning acute housing and overdose death and lack of treatment.

4. Oslo Challenge 1: Open drug scenes
City of Oslo
Department of Welfare and Social Affairs
Oslo Challenge 1: Open drug scenes
Conditions for fighting an open drug scene:
Unified political approach
Police and municipality cooperation
Alternative services for addicts
Researchers on open drug scenes have singled out three essential factors in fighting an open drug scene.
I am afraid we have problems with all of them.
The city government I’m representing are in minority, our government position is dependent upon support from at least one other party in the city council. From this position it is difficult to achieve a strong and unified political approach on how to fight the drug scenes.
We haven’t a municipal police. In such a situation it is a challenge to agree upon priorities and develop combined approaches – although the police and the municipality have regular meetings and a good communication.
The responsibility for users services is divided between the national and the local levels with the state responsibility for detox and treatment for addiction. Housing, care and other services are the municipalities responsibility. The difficult part is to coordinate and agree upon priorities.

5. Open drug scene
10 years ago this was the situation outside Oslo Central Station:
200 –300 addicts every day
Aggressivity and violence
Use of weapons
School children and parents with small children were observed
Buying and selling illegal drugs quite in the open
Use of drugs, for example by injections set openly in front of people passing by
Something had to be done….

6. Actionplan for alternatives to public drug abuse
City of Oslo
Department of Welfare and Social Affairs
Actionplan for alternatives to public drug abuse
Housing
Day centres/cafes
Health services
Nutrition/food
Dental services
Visitors in Oslo: supported home travel
An action plan was developed in a strong cooperation between Oslo city, the Police and 5 ministries.
Oslo started to develop services like:
Housing
Day activities
Outreach health services
Programs to help to return home to the local community
Then, we had a police action in 2004:

7. After police action.. Which cleared the area.
This summer – of we - almost - turned back time to the situation of 2004, with a huge open drug scene, just outside the central station. The police in Oslo has concluded that it will be a priority for them to fight this open drug scene. I do believe Mr. Sponheim, Deputy chief of Police of Oslo, will tell you more about this in his session.
Bit I am seriously concerned about the consequences; the recruiting of youth to the drug scenes, the habitants experiences of less safetieness in the city center and the consequences for the drug users them selves. And in fact; this is not how we want to present our city to the visitor.
So what we are doing no is trying to minor the gap between the levels; both between the state level and the municipality and within the municipality.

8. Oslo Challenge 2: The problems of acute housing
City of Oslo
Department of Welfare and Social Affairs
Oslo Challenge 2: The problems of acute housing
An unfortunate practice
40 persons repetitive using acute housing
Social services must be involved
Some issues related to acute housing:
We wants to have good material standards – no shelters with big dormitories .
We have had an un-bureaucratic practise:
direct from the streets, no registration of names, if you don’t have any money – you still getting a room
Negative side of that might have been:
No contact with social services
No long-term solutions, and
Some gave up their long-term house and instead choose the acute solutions. (Effect: 40 users repetitive using the acute housing units all through the winter)
So we changed: When in need of acute housing – people must contact the social services. And that’s not a problem in Oslo since we have 24 hour social services, as the only municipality in Norway.
BUT the offers of acute housing must not take over for the long-term solutions. This can be the start of a vicious circle for the clients, and to maintain drug abuse and un-social behaviour.
SO our strategy now is also to establish permanent housing, especially for those with both drug and psychiatric challenges. This will be more than just housing, and we have to do this in close cooperation with both psychiatric hospitals and social services.

9. Oslo challenge 3: Overdose deaths
City of Oslo
Department of Welfare and Social Affairs
Oslo challenge 3: Overdose deaths
Overdose deaths: Highest in Europe?
Overdose reducing services:
Day centres/cafe’s
Special health services
Dental health services
Providing food in housing institutions
Work activities
Housing follow-up activities
Norway has always had very high figures of overdose deaths – and it is said to be the highest in Europe. But we do also have a distinct injection culture – if I can put it that way. Norwegian drug abusers don’t smoke the heroin, they inject it.
We have put great effort in reducing this with day centres, special health services, dental service, etc. After year 2000 Oslo has reduced overdose deaths by 50% a year – last year 60 persons died.
Due to the documented effect we will still give priority to these points.
And we have also started a research program on overdose deaths.
The main challenge is to find the best ways to fight overdose deaths and to find the balance between treatment and rehabilitation on one side, and the harm reduction activities on the other side.

10. Drug abuse caused by poverty?
City of Oslo
Department of Welfare and Social Affairs
Drug abuse caused by poverty?
This traditional explanation is important but insufficient: The general prosperity has grown in most European countries – especially Norway.
The nature of the time we live in: People seem to have got used to an increase of problems caused by drugs. We most mobilize!
Social and individual exclusion – or inclusion: Drug users should not be declared innocent of their actions, nor irresponsible for their own welfare and future. That’s inhuman.
Let me do some reflections in the end.
Why drugs? There are many explanations – my personal standing is that the traditional explanation that drug abuse is caused by poverty and social class alone is insufficient although still important.
According to the social heritage theory and class division theories, the rapid growth of drug abuse in Norway is paradoxical – it simply does not follow the theoretical rules. The country is very rich, and we have a well organised welfare system.
Every citizen who needs accommodation and nutrition has a right to claim it and will be offered it. No one has to starve in Oslo.
We have established medical care for drug abusers. We have it in spite of our very restrictive laws against drug, distribution and individual use. So we ask ourselves; why is it so? There must be something more to it than economy and class division – have we lost anything in our pursuit for material wealth? Have we blurred wealth with happiness?
There are no simple answers to the drug problem. The causes are complex. There is an enormous illegal production and international trade. There are also individual and social conditions that lead some people to abuse both legal and illegal substanc es.

11. Maybe it is something with the nature of the time we live in
During the last decade people seem to have got used to an increase of social and individual problems caused by drugs. From my point of view it is important to hold on to some basic values. We have to find ways of activating ordinary people – to mobilize our neighbourhoods - to wake up the public opinion. We need to find back to a kind of social control.
I am firmly convinced that it is not right to presuppose that those who abuse drugs have lost all control and consequently also should be declared unconscious of their duty to make choices. By doing so, we exclude them rather than include them. Compassion for them as human beings must not lead to inhuman do of the individuals.
Thank you for your attention!