drug abuse

Drug abuse denotes a sustained or harmful use of euphoriant substances that causes physical, psychological or social harm to the user or to those around them. Under Danish criminal law the term is not defined as an independent legal concept, but it is used broadly in official language, social work and criminological contexts to describe a pattern of substance use that goes beyond controlled or medical use.

In Danish law, the handling of euphoriant substances is regulated primarily by the Danish Act on Euphoriant Substances (lov om euforiserende stoffer), which determines which substances are subject to prohibition and restriction. The abuse pattern itself — that is, the repeated, uncontrolled or harmful use — is not defined directly in that act, but constitutes the factual condition the legislation indirectly seeks to counter.

In a true crime context, drug abuse typically does not appear as the central criminal act, but as a contextual factor that illuminates the situation of a perpetrator or a victim. It may, for example, be a matter of a perpetrator being in active abuse at the time of the offence, a victim being particularly vulnerable as a result of dependency, or criminal networks exploiting such vulnerability to recruit victims for fraud, prostitution or other crime.

Drug abuse may be given significance in sentencing as a mitigating circumstance where the perpetrator acted under the influence of a dependency that weakened their scope for action. Conversely, in certain cases it may be given aggravating weight if the offence was motivated by financing the perpetrator's own abuse. The court makes a concrete assessment in each individual case.

The concept is clearly distinct from drug trafficking and possession with intent to transfer, which are independent criminal offences with their own provisions. Drug abuse in itself — that is, use and possession for personal consumption — is punishable under the Act on Euphoriant Substances, but is in practice often handled on the basis of social and treatment-related considerations rather than purely criminal sanctions.