Denmark

Since its conception in 1955, Danish drug policy has reflected an ambivalent balance between repression and welfare. Denmark, which borders the Baltic Sea and the North Sea on a peninsula north of Germany, is a Scandinavian welfare state with a population of 5.5 million citizens where many welfare benefits and services are accessible as a social right. Cannabis is the most popular illegal drug with a lifetime prevalence of 45 percent in 2008 for people aged 16–44. It is estimated that of the 27,000 problematic drug users, half are injection drug users, mainly heroin or multiple drug users. Denmark has signed the three United Nations (UN) drug control conventions.