23536
Bluelight Crew
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/08/danish-drug-addicts-magazine
The liberal attitude of Danish authorities to drugs is being tested this weekend, with addicts taking to the streets of Copenhagen to sell a new Big Issue-style magazine with the explicit aim of funding their addictions.
Five thousand copies of the magazine, with a cover price of 30 krone (£3.40), are being sold on street corners by drug users. Each addict will keep 20 krone to fund drug buying, according to the publishers of the magazine, which is to be sold under the title Illegal. If successful, the publishers say they plan to bring the magazine to the streets of London.
Michael Lodberg Olsen, a self-styled social entrepreneur who is using his own money to finance the magazine, said the idea was to give addicts some dignity and an alternative source of income to prostitution and crime.
[...]
However, the conservative Danish People's party has already said it is against the publication, claiming that it would only encourage drug abuse, which – while relatively limited across the country – is concentrated in Copenhagen and the former meat-packing district of Vesterbro.
Olsen, whose previous ventures have included a mobile drug-injection room to allow users to feed their habit in a safe and discreet environment, said he was not troubled by the controversy.
"Some people won't like it, they will say these people should get treatment," he said. "I say, what planet are you living on? No one has solved the problem of drug addiction, so is it not better that people find the money to buy their drugs this way than through crime and prostitution?
Full story: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/08/danish-drug-addicts-magazine
The liberal attitude of Danish authorities to drugs is being tested this weekend, with addicts taking to the streets of Copenhagen to sell a new Big Issue-style magazine with the explicit aim of funding their addictions.
Five thousand copies of the magazine, with a cover price of 30 krone (£3.40), are being sold on street corners by drug users. Each addict will keep 20 krone to fund drug buying, according to the publishers of the magazine, which is to be sold under the title Illegal. If successful, the publishers say they plan to bring the magazine to the streets of London.
Michael Lodberg Olsen, a self-styled social entrepreneur who is using his own money to finance the magazine, said the idea was to give addicts some dignity and an alternative source of income to prostitution and crime.
[...]
However, the conservative Danish People's party has already said it is against the publication, claiming that it would only encourage drug abuse, which – while relatively limited across the country – is concentrated in Copenhagen and the former meat-packing district of Vesterbro.
Olsen, whose previous ventures have included a mobile drug-injection room to allow users to feed their habit in a safe and discreet environment, said he was not troubled by the controversy.
"Some people won't like it, they will say these people should get treatment," he said. "I say, what planet are you living on? No one has solved the problem of drug addiction, so is it not better that people find the money to buy their drugs this way than through crime and prostitution?
Full story: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/08/danish-drug-addicts-magazine
