Norway's Parliament is decriminalizing marijuana, making it the first Scandinavian country to do so.  It shifts the nation's focus to treating drug abuse as a medical problem rather than a legal one.

"It is important to emphasize that we do not legalize cannabis and other drugs, but we decriminalize," said Sveinung Stensland, a Conservative and deputy chairman of the Starting (Parliament) Health Committee.  "The change will take some time, but that means a changed vision: those who have a substance abuse problem should be treated as ill, and not as criminals with classical sanctions such as fines and imprisonment."

Socialist Left (SV) party Health spokesman Nicholas Wilkinson said the goal was to "stop punishing people who struggle, but instead give them help and treatment". 

The SV picked up wide support from the Conservatives, Liberals, and Labor, but there is no desire for a sudden transition and full implementation may not happen until 2021.  "The most important thing is that this will be good reform," said Wilkinson, "If we have to wait another year for it to really work, it's worth it."

Norway follows Portugal in treating drug use as a medical problem instead of a law enforcement issue.  Since decriminalizing drug use in 2001, Portugal has seen cases of heroin addiction drop from 100,000 to 20,000.