Drug Globalization: Eventual Legalization of Beer in Iceland and Marihuana Decriminalization in the USA

Abstract

Beer was banned in Iceland for the most part of the twentieth century, 1915–1989. Using records of parliamentary debates, law enforcement records, surveys of public attitudes, and census data, the main arguments used for and against the law in Parliament show that it was largely unenforced, or symbolic law. An attempt will be made to illustrate why beer prohibition was abolished in 1989 and what effects liberalized alcohol policies have had on the consumption of alcohol in society. Finally, similarities of prohibition of alcohol and the current prohibition of drugs will be deliberated. The main arguments for the prohibition of beer were that beer was particularly hazardous to young people and workers. However, advocates of legal beer believed it to be a peculiar arrangement to ban beer while allowing hard liquor. External and internal changes, opening of the society and its changed conditions, gradually led to liberal views regarding alcohol policies which eventually led to the abolition of the beer prohibition in 1989. The past and current challenges in the USA, with both alcohol and marihuana, will be compared to Iceland in the current economic crisis. Evidence of policy change towards use of drugs can be detected in Europe, surprisingly led by Portugal, which decriminalized all drug use in 2001, which might suggest a possible policy shift in the future. Globalization and economic interests provide a significant basis for legal change in Iceland and the USA.