Several papers carry initial reactions to Sunday's approval by the Green party conference of an initiative calling for the legalisation of cannabis in Finland.
The Helsinki tabloid Ilta-Sanomat reports that the youth wing of the conservative National Coalition Party (NCP) immediately voiced support for the initiative. This group itself issued a call last autumn for legalising the cultivation, sale and possession of cannabis for self-medication.
Matias Pajula, the chair of the NCP youth organization, late on Sunday urged his party to also update its position on cannabis as soon as possible.
However, there are also other positions within the NCP. Party MP Arto Satonen tweeted that cannabis-related accidents nearly doubled in Colorado in the USA following the legalisation of cannabis. He described the Green's initiative as further proof that the Greens are "removed from reality".
The paper also quotes Christian Democratic MP Päivi Räsänen, who also expressed concern about the move by the Greens: "Has Interior Minister (Maria) Ohisalo not listened to the warnings of the police administration she oversees about its consequences? Wrong signal."
In a bylined analysis, Aamulehti news manager Vesa Laitinen writes that with this decision, the Greens have painted themselves into a corner and assured that they will remain a marginal player in Finnish politics.
He argues that in order to broaden their support, the Greens need no more push on climate or drug policy. Instead, the party needs credible economic and foreign policy, responsible action addressing groups beyond its own core supporters.
Laitinen writes that on the other hand, it is good that party democracy works and that the rank-and-file make their voices heard. It is fair to outsiders, such as potential voters, he says, that initiatives such as this one expose the party's true colours.
Labour shortage exaggerated?
Finland's largest circulation daily, Helsingin Sanomat, Monday explored the state of the Finnish labour market.
The paper writes that politicians and various interest groups are alarmed by the labor shortage plaguing Finland, but some researchers say it may not even have one.
The economy is recovering strongly from last year's recession and the number of job vacancies has increased.
According to the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, there were an average of 149,000 job vacancies per month in January—July. During the same period, there were an average of 356,000 unemployed jobseekers per month.
Antti Kauhanen, Director of Research at the ETLA Economic Research Institute, told HS that it is still too early to say that there will be a long-term labour shortage in Finland.
"I would assume that the increase in the number of job vacancies is somewhat temporary. The coronavirus pandemic abroad has led to an exceptionally strong redeployment of labour. Workers have begun to move between industries on a larger scale than before," Kauhanen noted.
In other words, those who have been forced to move to new jobs during a pandemic may no longer want to return to their old job.
"I would think that this is also the case in Finland. Friction in the labor market has increased momentarily, but is likely to ease over time."
ETLA's Kauhanen stressed to Helsingin Sanomat that there are really no simple solutions to acute labour shortages.
One standard response is to pay employees more. But, Kauhanen pointed out that since no one yet knows for sure whether there is a temporary or long-term labour shortage, companies are hardly ready to compete for workers through wage increases just yet.
Space defence
Last week the Finnish government signed off on a new defence policy report which among other things calls for a restructuring of the nation's combat forces, and developing capabilities in "cyber and information environments and space".
Jyväskylä's Keskisuomalainen is among the papers which carries a syndicated article looking at what role space has in Finland's defence.
Karoliina Honkanen, who chaired the body that drew up the latest defence reportpointed out that the functioning of society as a whole are increasingly linked to space-based systems.
"Defence activities also depend on, for example, the ability to coordinate the use of one's own satellite services and to identify the satellite services used by a potential opponent," Honkanen says.
According to the Finnish Defence Forces, the key issue is leveraging the performance of military and commercial satellites for intelligence, communications, and positioning use.
According to the article, the Defence Forces do not want to say what parties pose a threat to Finland's space defense.
The Defence Forces are developing their ability to maintain a 24-hour space situational picture, in cooperation with other authorities and international partners, the report says.
The key players are ministries, the Finnish Meteorological Institute, Traficom, universities and research institutes, the business community, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Union's SatCen satellite centre.
The article notes that the official report released last Thursday contains no further information about space defence.
Snow tires already?
Monday's weather forecast is for rain and high, gusty winds in most parts of the county, and the chance of snow in Finnish Lapland.
The tabloid Iltalehti spoke with Pyry Poutanen of the Finnish Meteorology Institute who reported that the forecast for Lapland includes the accumulation of up to ten centimetres of snow in some areas by Tuesday morning.
Even though most of the snow is expected to hit higher elevations on the fells, and not stay on the ground for very long, Poutanen added that it will make driving conditions hazardous.
This time of year, Lapland draws a lot of tourists who go north to enjoy the vivid colours of the Arctic autumn. That said, using summer tyres over the next day or two may require extra special caution.
Would you like a summary of the week's top stories sent straight to your email inbox every week? Then sign up for our weekly newsletter!