Background and aims: Substantial numbers of young drug law offenders pass through the criminal justice system in Norway each year. Currently, the existing drug policy is undergoing reform, implying a shift of resources from the justice sector to health services in minor drug cases. This study describes the characteristics of young drug offenders and how they have been met by the criminal justice system in the period leading up to the proposed policy changes.
Design and Setting: Register data on all 15-17 year olds who were charged with drug offences in the period 2000-2015 coupled with population, income and school data.
Participants: A total of 10 665 young drug law offenders, of which 48 % (n=5116) were registered with drug crimes as their first criminal offence.
Findings: Socioeconomic status was negatively associated with the risk of being charged with drug offences between the ages of 15-17, even after controlling for a wide range of known confounders. Socioeconomic status was positively associated with the type of sanction imposed, with children of better-off parents more often receiving conditional waiver of prosecution involving rehabilitative efforts.
Conclusions: Whereas the likelihood of being arrested and charged for drug offences decreases with higher socioeconomic status, young drug offenders from better-off families are more often undergoing rehabilitative control efforts where the explicit goal is to reduce recidivism.