Health authority to raise awareness over opioid abuse, Royal Run, left wing party moves towards pro-armament policy and more news from Denmark this Tuesday.
Authority concerned over increasing opioid pill abuse
The Danish Health Authority (Sundhedsstyrelsen) says it is alarmed over a growing black market for prescription painkillers such as Dolol and Oxycontin.
“We’re concerned this is a trend that could take hold. That’s why we’re acting early, while there’s still a chance to prevent it from getting worse,” Jonas Egebart, a director with the Health Authority, told news wire Ritzau.
The health authority will today launch new material aimed at helping local municipalities and parents understand the issue.
Figures from the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), published by Denmark’s National Institute of Public Health (Statens Institut for Folkesundhed), show that 1.6 percent of grade 9 pupils have tried opioids.
“In percentage terms, it’s a small number. But that still means over 1,000 pupils in that year group have tried it,” Egebart said.
Wastewater in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Odense, Aalborg, Esbjerg and Næstved is now being tested for traces of opioids to get a clearer picture of actual abuse.
Initial results from the new testing show that opioid levels are at or below the quantities sold legally in the six cities.
Tens of thousands join Denmark’s annual Royal Runs
The annual Royal Run event saw tens of thousands of participants in its five host cities across the country yesterday. The popular 5 and 10 kilometres fun running events have become an established tradition since their introduction in 2018.
Over 97,500 people took part in yesterday’s edition according to the Danish Sports Confederation (DIF), including six members of the royal family.
King Frederik, Crown Prince Christian, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine all ran the final 10 km leg of this year’s event.
The four started side by side, but were well spread out by the finish, with 14-year-old Prince Vincent the first to cross the line after 44 minutes.
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Crown Prince Christian completed the route through the streets of Copenhagen in 50 minutes, with King Frederik arriving three minutes later.
“It was great to show who’s the best in the family,” Prince Vincent told media at the finish line at Amalienborg Palace, according to TV 2.
Left wing party adopts more pro-defence spending policy
The left wing party Red-Green Alliance (Enhedslisten) has voted to revise its official defence and security policy, signalling a shift towards support for more defence spending.
The decision came after nearly three and a half hours of debate followed by a vote at the party’s annual meeting in Valby near Copenhagen on Sunday.
A majority of the party’s national board put forward a proposal to change its official policy so that the Red-Green Alliance would now support a “robust territorial defence capable of protecting the Danish Realm and the country’s allies”, Ritzau writes.
The motion passed with 250 votes in favour, 101 against and 14 abstentions.
Critics within the party have warned that the policy could back a multibillion-kroner “arms race” and ultimately undermine the welfare state.
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France president Macron to visit Greenland
French President Emmanuel Macron is to visit Greenland, his office said Saturday, the first foreign head of state to do so since US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to seize the autonomous Danish territory.
Macron’s office said he had been invited to visit on June 15th by the territory’s prime minister Jens-Frederik Nielsen and Danish leader Mette Frederiksen.
The three will hold talks focused on North Atlantic and Arctic security, climate change, the energy transition and the supply of critical minerals, the French presidency said.
The visit will contribute to fostering “European sovereignty” and was aiming at “strengthening cooperation” with Greenland, it added.