Finnish Cannabis Association
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| Formation | 1990 |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Legalisation or decriminalisation of cannabis. |
| Website | suomenkannabisyhdistys |
The Finnish Cannabis Association (FCA;
non-governmental organisation whose purpose is to advocate legalisation or decriminalisation of cannabis
.
The FCA started operating in 1990 and was officially established in 1991. According its mission statement, the purpose of the association is to influence the Finnish
legally use, obtain and cultivate cannabis for personal use. The FCA also studies the use of cannabis in different cultures
during different times.
The association had 36 members in 1991, and about 650 in 2000.
History
Background
Over the years the FCA has faced many hardships in Finland, where a lot of the population do not make practically any distinction between different illegal drugs (huumeet), such as cannabis and
gateway drug
".
Legal status
The Finnish Cannabis Association first applied for the status of a registered association (rekisteröity yhdistys, ry) in 1991, but the association register office maintained by the
Finnish Ministry of Justice
, and later the Supreme Administrative Court have rejected the application. The ministry based their rejection, in 1993, on the grounds that the purpose of FCA is "against good customs so that the expressed purpose is contrary to the views about justice and morality prevailing in our society". As of 2005, the FCA still has not obtained the status of a registered association.
In 1991 two members of the
True Finns
) made an inquiry on the legality of the operation of FCA, with the aim of putting an end to the cannabis organisation. The Ministry of the Interior, which carried out the inspection, responded that "the association has not operated fundamentally against the law or good customs".
Activities
The FCA has attained some credibility, by e.g. taking part in public drug policy discussions and debates, and occasionally co-operating governmental health sector organisations as well as with other
hippies
".
In recent years perhaps the most visible FCA activity has been the annual cannabis march (Hamppumarssi, part of the global
Million Marijuana March demonstrations) in Helsinki. (Similar marches in other Finnish cities have been organised by other loose pro-cannabis groups, perhaps reflecting a Helsinki-centric nature of the FCA.) However, among the rising, largely internet-based, cannabis "subculture
" in Finland, the FCA has sometimes been criticised for stagnating and lack of activity.
See also
External links
- www.suomenkannabisyhdistys.org – Official site
- www.sky.org – Official site (old version)
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