In autumn last year the police caught 11 young people in Longyearbyen with drugs. 10 of them have by now been sentenced to fines or prison up to 60 days (partly suspended). Next to owning and selling amounts of up to 100 g of cannabis, one person was also charged for breaching laws regulating firearms because of improper storage. Two persons were expelled from Spitsbergen for up to 4 years. The local newspaper Svalbardposten found out last year (after the drug razzia) in an internet poll that 911 out of 1060 readers are in favor of expelling drug users and dealers from Spitsbergen.
The criminality level is comparatively minor and mainly directed at covering own demands, but has to be seen in the context of a small, isolated town with many young inhabitants. The cannabis was smuggled from Norway to Longyearbyen by mail.
In Longyearbyen, grass is not only growing on the tundra.
By the way, my new book is in print and it can now be ordered 🙂 it is a photo book with the title “Norwegens arktischer Norden (3): Die Bäreninsel und Jan Mayen”, with German text Click here for further details!
This and other publishing products of the Spitsbergen publishing house in the Spitsbergen-Shop.
Norwegens arktischer Norden (1): Spitzbergen
Photobook: Norway's arctic islands. The text in this book is German. [shop url="https://shop.spitzbergen.de/en/polar-books/70-norwegens-arktischer-norden-1-aerial-arctic-9783937903262.html"] ← Back
Lofoten, Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen from the air - Photobook: Norway's arctic islands. The text in this book is German, but there is very little text, so I am sure that you will enjoy it regardless which languages you read (or not).
The companion book for the Svalbardhytter poster. The poster visualises the diversity of Spitsbergen‘s huts and their stories in a range of Arctic landscapes. The book tells the stories of the huts in three languages.
Comprehensive guidebook about Spitsbergen. Background (wildlife, plants, geology, history etc.), practical information including travelling seasons, how to travel, description of settlements, routes and regions.
Join an exciting journey with dog, skis and tent through the wintery wastes of East Greenland! We were five guys and a dog when we started in Ittoqqortoormiit, the northernmost one of two settlements on Greenland’s east coast.
12 postcards which come in a beautifully designed tray. Beautiful images from South Georgia across Antarctica from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Ross Sea and up to Macquarie Island and Campbell Island.