Helsinki, Finland
Smoking tolerance level [1= very illegal 5=virtually legal]: 3
Legislation: Categorized as a narcotic (not a hard one) since the sixties.
a new law determains that Any attempt of growing,even attemptin to grow,owing pots! owning seeds,ligts ,is now illegal.
Possession is illegal, possession of over 5 grammes is with intent to distribute, fines (60€ up) are the most common method of handling cannabis, and jail time would be reached by mass distribution if anything.
Law Enforcement: A small fine for use or possession of less than 15g marijuana or 10g hashish (the minimum penalty is 60€)
A properly bahaving (and lucky) adult may avoid any penalty if he/she is not causing any trouble, and the police officer has a good day. Some of the police know that they have more important things to do than harrassing somebody with a joint on his lips. Public smoking is not rare during weekends in the city centrum, but generally not recommended except for in reggae concerts and similar events.
another reporter added: “The police are relatively alright with it, by relative I mean that I know a maximum of five people who have had trouble (meaning a fine or the such) with the cops, and I’ve been smoking everyday for about two years, mostly out in public too. If the police arrive, and even care, keep a cool head and make sure your weed is hidden and tell them that you’re a tourist.
It’s so lax at times that I’ve been walking past cops or smoking next to a cop van and not noticed until afterwards, however some degree of common sense is of course recommended.”
Where to Buy marijuana in Helsinki: “If looking to buy pot in Helsinki I recommend going to go to Synebrichoff park during summer. You’ll most likely see some hippies smoking a joint somewhere in the park. Ask them and make sure to be polite and even if they say no keep insisting. Its in the nature of a finn to be secretive. If looking for more of an adventure head to the suburbs of Helsinki and look around for black or middle eastern youths. Bravely ask them if they could hook you up or if they know anyone who can. If these youths offer to go and get you some and demand you to give them the money first insist on them giving their mobile phone during the wait. If they say no just tell them to forget about it and start walking away and, quite surely, they’ll agree because they know that they’ll be able to knock a small bit off for themselves. Before you get your pot be prepared for a suprise. The amount of bricky shitty soapy hash they’re going to put in your hand is heartbreaking. I
t might appear that they are ripping you off big time but, de facto, they are probably not taking more than a quarter of the pot for themselves. If you’re in awesome luck you’ll get some fine skunk, but still dont expect much. Two joints, polluted with tabacco is the most you can expect. Or one duffy. The price is usually 10 euros a gram for hash and 15-20 for green. If you want a joint while looking over some terrific views over the city i suggest heading for the Observatory park ( “Thtitornipuisto” in finnish and “Observatorieparken” in swedish, as both are spoken in Helsinki ) to get there take tram 3T from outside Stockmann department store in central Helsinki and get off at the Olympia ferry terminal, then walk up the steps on the other side of the road and turn left. You’ll see a historic statue from the 19th century and an observatory dating from the same time. Right opposite to the statue towards the sea you’ll see a small staircase leading down to a viewing spot. Light up your reefer and smoke a joint overlooking the historical city centre. If you want to head back to nature take bus number 20 to the suburb of Lauttasaari. Step off at the Siwa supermarket walk towards the forest behind it. Keep walking up the hill and on the way you’ll see some historically marked AA guns from WW2 before you arrive to the bird looking tower. Walk up it and enjoy the views of South Western Helsinki and the eastside of the city of Espoo. Helsinki is a beautiful city in the ranks of Stockholm and Prague so make as much as possible out of your trip. Regards, Finnish expat living in Spain, so i know about hashish, OK?” and our most recent report is: “Do not buy from the Central Railway Station under any circumstances, it’s not just *the* Central Railway Station, but the distributors you’d meet would be Somali by and large, and most likely middle men to a middle man to a dealer. It’s not surprising to score 25€ or even worse priced hash from there. And of course, it’s soap/crap and mixed.
Much recommended instead is investing your evening in Kallio, the part of town with some personality. Notable landmarks (ask for directions, Kallio is small) include the Reggae bar Exodus in which you’re bound to meet someone who’ll know something, but barter and be prepared for a potentially nasty deal, although I’ve heard of and scored some wonderful ones here and there. The Bandidos owned head shop, the Fat Mexican, is a magnificent shop specialising in tattoos and 50c blunt wrap.
Other safe bets include major parks such as Ruttopuisto/Vanhakirkkopuisto (the same place but Plague Park and Old Church Park respectively) although the weed circles there could be humungous and the hope of a hit if anything may be unlikely. Koffinpuisto, just down the Bulevard from Rutto is a much better bet at times in the summer. Alppipuisto (nearer to Kallio than the city) was once quite the place to be, but it mainstreamed up thanks to a surge in neo-hippie popularity, and was monitored by the police at least as recently as the summer of 2007.”
Marijuana and Hashish prices: Street prices: 10-12€ a gramme for hash, although if you’re a perceptive one, you’ll meet exactly the right people and get it from 6-8€ per. Marijuana as flower is around 15€ per, 12€ being the usual discount price drop.
There are ‘bag-men’ in Finland (commonly African men aged 25 up) who’ll give from and around 20€ a gramme in a small minigrip bag, hence the name.
Oh, and (believe me) Finns have been known to -buy- leaf, for around 6€ a gramme at times. I’ve seen a deal or two become “Yeah, we didn’t get 3 grammes of bud, but we got 6.5g of leaf!” in an accepting and sometimes even pleased tone “My leaf has more THC than a lot of bud”. All sorts of garbage.
Brands: Finnish marijuana is almost always homegrown in good conditions and the quality equals the Dutch Coffeeshop varieties.
Hash is of varied quality: usually almost as good as average bud, but once I got hash that was even more impotent than leaf. If you have luck, you may get something that is imported from The Netherlands and not put too much unnecessary materials in it, but usually Russian which contains stuff like terebinth, junk oil and sand. There are rumours of opium-hash because of some irregular lucky strikes with good hash, compared to the usual bad quality.
another reporter added: “Dutch travelers beware, the White Widows, the Pollens, the Skunks et all are actually much respected and loved brands here (explains some tourists!) and while most people have absolutely no idea what the weed they smoke is, plenty do and you can get a variety of cannabis types, including some ultra rare and exceptionally good Finnish strains.”
More Information: As Finland is in the edge of the Western civilization using cannabis is still a bit underground. The majority of those who grow weed don’t sell their crop at all but give it for free to their friends and somebody they trust worthy. There are very few big time commercial cannabis growers in Finland, therefore for once-in-a-month-users bud is something very special.
The most common name for hash is “lהtkה” which derives from the substantial hardness and means a flapper or a hockey buck. (‘ה’ or ‘a’ with two dots if you can’t see those on your computer is pronounced like ‘a’ in the english word “man” but the locals speak quite good english too so don’t worry – be happy!)
The report is made by a local resident who’s been living all his life in Helsinki.
More updated information: If you visit Helsinki be sure to visit the ‘famous’ Kallio part of town. You can get to it by subway. Locally known as metro. The station to jump off at is Sצrnהinen (Sornainen) or in swedish Sצrnהs(sir nes e pronounced as in men).
Kallio used to be the infamous working class part of town but now days it’s very hip and home to most of the young and students. So that also makes it a veritable party area in Helsinki. Except for the sad fact that law states that in Kallio most bars and clubs will have to close at 1:30AM. You can find weed/hash in clubs and bars but usually it’s not gonna be a good deal. Also never have been in any trouble for smoking in bars/clubs. Sometimes been asked to put it out or been frowned upon.
Reading this report might seem like a doom and gloom review of Helsinki, but really, the smoking community of Finland is anything but bad. For every thieving monkey after some cash, there are about fifteen honest smokers just trying to get by on the prices.
Finnish people are culturally diligent (and disgustingly proud of it) and Finnish homegrown plants and more often than not phenomenally good and well recommended over some street boy with dirt hash, even if it could take a few days to find.