By Frank G. Shineman
Though most people have heard of Iceland, a lot of people, especially in the United States would be hard-pressed to provide any pertinent facts about this very small nation. For that reason, I will give you some important facts about this Nation in the North Atlantic.
Iceland is a very small island nation located in the Northern part of the Atlantic Ocean to the Northwest of Canada, with the Capital being Reykjavik. It is a Nordic nation, more closely related to Nations such as Norway, Sweden, and Finland than to the United States or Canada. It is especially known for having exceptionally beautiful blonde and very light haired women, though with some variations of exceptionally lovely red headed women with very pale skin. The population of the entire country was only 334,256 as of the 2016 census. Icelanders are descendants of the Viking nation, a fierce warrior clan, well known in Western culture, thanks to the Hollywood filmmaking culture.
Geographically, Iceland is built upon ancient volcanoes. It is a country that has a very harsh and stark appearance. It is a land covered with ice caps, glaciers, raging rivers and breathtaking waterfalls.
I will be focussing on a person named Mr. Pawel Bartoszek. Mr. Bartoszek is a member of the Icelandic Parliament representing the Reform Party. The bill that this Icelandic legislator has proposed for the legalization of marijuana will be accompanied with a very definite structured set of rules. These rules will cover the production of cannabis, the sales thereof and the general handling of cannabis products of all types. In addition, we wish to inform the public, that this law is based upon a handbook entitled, How to regulate Cannabis- A Practical Guide. Above all, the purpose of this bill is to achieve a General Decriminalization of Cannabis.
Mr. Bartoszek first announced the onset of his legislative efforts on his website Pawel.is that he will be opening the handling of this case on September 20, 2017. Although Pawel Bartoszek is taking the major credit for this legislative campaign, he will be supported by others. There will be a team of three other Icelandic Parliament members who will lend their support. They are Gunnar H. Jonsson and Jon P. Olafsson of the Pirate political party and Sigran Gisladottir of the Reform Party.
Some of the most important parts of the bill will be as follows:
The minimum cannabis use age will be 20 years.
Retail on a small scale will be permitted. There may also be cannabis restaurants, though no alcohol will be sold there.
A total ban on any kind of advertisements will be in place.
This bill will also require that certain fees and taxes will be levied, such as in the alcohol industry.
