Time for Norwegians to have a public drink – The Liberal
This is not a completely unknown debate. For many years, proposals for the abolition or amendment of the Alcohol Act § 8-9 have been up for discussion. The section deals with bans on serving and drinking, including a ban on drinking in public places such as beaches and parks.
In most European countries we like to compare ourselves with, it is not a specific ban on consuming alcoholic beverages in public places. The closest example is Denmark, where you can see young people enjoying themselves at the harbor with a few beers or gathering around a campfire on the beach with a glass of wine. I myself was at a beach gathering in Copenhagen with a big bonfire and wine on the beach when I studied there. It was an incredibly cozy, social and intimate way to gather people from all over the world who did not know each other and maybe no one else. It struck me when I stood there with the wine glass and felt the breeze in my hair that something like this had not been allowed for a Norwegian university to arrange. Completely absurd when it is such a good experience to pick up. It would not have been the same if everyone had to drink soda.
For a beer or a glass of wine works well as a lubricant in social layers with strangers. This is how many of us are screwed together. If you live in Oslo, you may not quite see the problem, because there is a sleeping section and it is in practice allowed to drink in St. Hansparken. In most other Norwegian cities, the situation is completely different.
Norwegian politicians may not see it as necessary for people to have social gatherings with strangers as long as it is outside the home, at a restaurant or bar where alcohol can be served legally. We also do not have a culture of approaching strangers, unless we have a couple of beers on board. If you ask a western foreigner what he or she thinks about Norwegians, it is not uncommon to get the answer «they are cute when they are drunk». It is easy to give consent to this, but the moment one proposes to take seriously that we should let go a little more loosely and perhaps allow public drinking to get closer to each other, then becomes clearly different. “No … that’s not how we can have it …”.
It has been suggested to make an exception for alcohol drinking in the park in the past. In 2017, FrP submitted a proposal to the Storting which was to grant an exemption from section 8-9 of the Alcohol Act in parks for alcoholic beverages up to 22%. The proposal fell, and only FrP and MDG voted in favor of the proposal. It was violently lax and very disappointing from the Conservatives and the Liberals who probably tried to appease conservative little brother KrF. Sometimes you should just shit in political alliances and vote rationally liberal as long as it is ideological according to what you believe in.
Now fresh blood has entered the Storting in both the SV, Venstre, Høyre, and it should be entirely reasonable to expect this proposal to be resumed by FrP or another party and gain a majority. The Storting must let go of the canning forces as soon as possible and make Norway a European country! European countries take into account children, the elderly and the disadvantaged, but do not pursue a semi-pietistic gray mouse policy.