LONDON -- Young people who occasionally smoke cannabis over long periods are more likely to turn to more addictive drugs like heroin, suggests a new study. While it has been assumed that the brain is almost fully formed by the time children reach their teens, there is evidence that the brain continues to develop until 25. Experiments on rats by Yasmin Hurd, a professor at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, show that chronic, periodic use of cannabis can interfere with brain development. [continues 189 words]
Study shows chronic use by teens affects brain development Teenagers and young adults who occasionally smoke cannabis over long periods are more likely to turn to more addictive drugs such as heroin, according to a study. While it has been assumed the brain is almost fully formed by the time children reach their teens, there is evidence the brain continues to develop until as late as age 25. Experiments on rats by Prof. Yasmin Hurd, of the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, show that chronic periodic use of cannabis can interfere with brain development. [continues 208 words]
LONDON - Teenagers and young adults who occasionally smoke cannabis over long periods are more likely to turn to more addictive drugs such as heroin, according to a Swedish study. Experiments on rats by Professor Yasmin Hurd, of the Karolinska Institute, Sweden, show that chronic periodic use of cannabis can interfere with brain development. There is evidence that the brain continues to develop until as late as 25. If confirmed, the findings suggest that children and young adults who use the drug over long periods would be more prone to anxiety and more dependent on anxiety-reducing drugs. [end]
The number of deaths resulting from drug abuse have more than quadrupled in Sweden during the last nine years according to statistics from the countries six forensic medicine stations. - -This is alarming and probably reflects a big increase of both heroin and mixed drug abuse, especially amongst younger persons, says associate professor Peter Kranz of the Forensic Medicine Institution in Lund to the newspaper Upsala Nya Tidning. 99 persons died in 1995 in connection with drug abuse. For the last two years the figures have been 425 and 413 respectivly. [continues 1004 words]
DESPITE ITS liberal image, Sweden has some of the toughest drug policies in the world. Its zero-tolerance approach began more than 35 years ago precisely because the country realised that a more relaxed attitude had failed. In the 1960s, amphetamines were decriminalised, enabling doctors to prescribe them to addicts. Drug use soared from a couple of hundred addicts to 2,000-3,000 within a couple of years. The Government decided in 1966 to treat all drugs equally, from cannabis to heroin, under a single law. Stop and search laws were introduced to allow police to stop people they suspected of consuming drugs and officers could 0enforce compulsory urine and blood tests. [continues 239 words]
Drug abuse treatment Deathrates are high among Swedens heroin addicts. There is an effective treatment that often frees the addict from the craving of heroin. But despite the fact that methadone in scientific studies shows good results, politicians hesitate. A lot of experts are critical and demand new rules. A government study shows that methadone is an effective method to help heroin addicts. But today only 650 of the more than 5000 heroin addicts receive methadone. - -It is unacceptable Leif Gr-nbladh, head of the methadone program in Uppsala, says. [continues 526 words]
STOCKHOLM, Aug 31 (Reuters) - A chain of stores in Sweden is smoking hot with anger after receiving a shipment of rucksacks decorated with a cannabis leaf print rather than the maple leaf design it ordered, a local Swedish newspaper reported on Friday. The Denmark-based Jysk Baddlager chain immediately came under fire from a Swedish county anti-drug centre for the mistaken pattern, which store management has promised it will straighten out. "Our purchasing department in Denmark ordered rucksacks with the Canadian maple leaf printed on as a decoration. Instead, we got these," said Knud Lauridsen, head of the company's operations in Sweden. [continues 92 words]
Ulf Hammarsten in Skottorp is Sweden's first hemp farmer. In a couple of weeks it is time for harvest. However, first the police will test the THC level. It is prohibited to grow this plant in Sweden since hemp is classified as a narcotic. But the prohibition violates EU rules of free trade and Ulf's hemp has a very low level of THC. "I have figured out that one has to smoke about 400 kilo to get stoned. That's a joint the size of a street light," says Ulf Hammarsten to Aftonbladet. [end]
Employing Suspicion To Lead The Fight LATE on a Friday night and the nightclub is crowded, the dance floor filled with hundreds of young people. At the bar, clubbers shout their drink orders above the music as the DJ turns up the decibels. Through the smoky gloom, friends can be glimpsed standing around chatting and enjoying themselves. All around, people can be seen having the same, harmless fun. Suddenly, a man appears out of the shadows and approaches a group of young people. He announces that he is an undercover policeman, has been watching them all evening and they are all under arrest on suspicion of taking drugs. [continues 950 words]
A Renoir stolen from Sweden's National Museum more than three months ago was found Thursday in Stockholm during an unrelated drug bust. Police found Renoir's "Conversation'' in a bag when detaining three drug suspects. [end]
The Swedish Model of Drug Criminalisation Does Not Work Today far fewer drug dealers are arrested, but many more users are. At the same time drug abuse is a social problem that cannot be criminalised away, writes Goran Grauers. Sweden has created a system that has moved as far down the narcotics ladder as it is possible to go in the fight against drugs. We don't arrest the dealers and smugglers, we arrest the abusers. Why don't we arrest alcoholics and throw them in prison as well? No, abuse is a social problem and cannot be criminalised away. [continues 753 words]
Thursday evening at the Globe was relatively calm. Police reported a theft of tickets, two minors were apprehended for drunkenness and driven home and one person was arrested, suspected of minor drug crimes. At an organized alternative MTV-show at 'Fryshuset', another three persons were arrested also suspected of minor drug crimes. - --------------------------------------------------------- Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1705/a05.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1705/a07.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1696/a03.html http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v00/n1695/a03.html [end]
The Swedish Narcotics Commission proposes in a new report that purgatives makes it possible to expediate body searches of suspected drug smugglers. The commission also proposes stiffer penalties for minor drug crimes in regards to Cannabis. Currently sales of hemp seeds is legal. But according to the commission it should be possible to apprehend those who sell, buy or possess hemp seeds in spite of existing laws. [end]
The police puts in extra resources to search for drugs at the MTV music awards festival at the Globe. Exactly how many policemen who will be on duty is kept secret. "The artists won't get any VIP-treatment," says Leif Jennekvist, director of the county crime division in Stockholm. Stockholm's Narcotics Task Force and at the Rave Commission's drug squad has been strongly critical towards the south suburb police after they said no thanks to their help during the big music event on thursday. [continues 137 words]
Local Police Retreats Yesterday county crime division decided that there will be drug squads at the Globe during the MTV music awards. "The risk for drugs increase at these events," says Leif Jennekvist, Chief of Police at Stockholm County Crime Division. Last saturday Expressen told about the internal conflicts within the Stockholm police. The Globe, where world artists pilgrimag to the MTV music awards on Thursday, is within the South Suburb district. Both narcotics officers at the City police and the Rave Commission offered their assistance, but where rejected. [continues 271 words]
The world's popstars don't have to worry about drug task forces during the MTV-music awards festival. Local police chiefs will stop the 'drug squad' from getting in to Globen (the Globe). But customs will enforce surveillance at Arlanda airport - in fear that illegal drugs will flow into the country when stars and fans arrive. The MTV-music awards festival is described as the biggest music event in Swedens history. On Thursday thousands of fans will be in place at Globen to see the worlds biggest popstars perform. [continues 556 words]
Growing criticism towards the local police chief who denied help from drug squads. Now comes demands that the police board in Stockholm steps in. "The politically responsible in Stockholm are obligated to enforce existing narcotics legislation," it says in an open letter to the chair woman of the police board, Kristina Axen Olin. It is Torgny Peterson, director of ECAD (European Cities Against Drugs), who is the author of the letter. The organisation is upset that the ravecommission's drug squad and the city police's drug task force is denied access to the MTV-festival at the Globe. The narcotics police offered their support with 20 men, but the local police department said no thanks. [continues 177 words]
The Police prioritize minor rather than serious drug offences. This is evident in a new report from the National Council for Crime Prevention (BRA). "The police must be given more funding in the fight against organized drug crimes," says Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Lars Engqvist. The police authorities activity logs show that efforts against minor drug offences, drug use and possession, is given a considerable higher priority than efforts against serious drug crimes. A clear shift in comparison with the 80's, according to Peter Lindstrom, director and researcher at BRA. [continues 398 words]
Tennis ball filled with narcotics and the smallest models of mobile phones are being thrown over the walls of Swedens prisons. This is the latest way for inmates to smuggle ever increasing quantities of drugs into jail. Despite half of all inmates being drug abusers, very little of the drugs smuggled in are seized. The drugs problem is on its way to overpowering the Swedish Prisons authority. In Haga, part of the Hall institute, nine out of ten prisoners are drug abusers. In the Hallby Institute outside Eskilstuna it is estimated that sefven out of ten abuse narcotics. [continues 586 words]
THE more painkillers a woman gets during labour, the more likely her child is to abuse drugs later in life. Karin Nyberg of the University of Gothenburg and her colleagues looked at medication given to the mothers of 69 adult drug abusers and 33 of their siblings who did not abuse drugs. They found that 23 per cent of the drug abusers were exposed to multiple doses of opiates or barbiturates in the hours before birth, compared with only 3 per cent of their siblings without drug problems (Epidemiology, vol 11, p 715). If the mothers received three or more doses, their child was nearly five times as likely to abuse drugs. The researchers don't know exactly how a short exposure to drugs could produce such long-term effects, but some rat studies have shown that exposure to a drug in the womb can change an animal's reaction to it later on. [end]
Drug liberal ideas are gaining ground in Europe. But Sweden is seen as a symbol for the resistance against drug liberalism. Consequently the position of the Swedish government on drug issues is followed with great interest by both sides of the debate. The lines of contention in the European narcotics debate are drawn between a liberal and a restrictive view of drug policy. Those who advocate the liberal position maintain that it is impossible to banish narcotics from society and that the most important thing is to reduce harm, for example by suppyling drug abusers with clean needles and hygenic injection rooms. And the drug liberal line has been making progress the last few years. [continues 382 words]
The minister of justice is a drug liberal! Thats how the past weekends indignant judgements about Thomas Bodström read. The background is an article he wrote in Liberal Debatt No. 7/98. There Bodström criticized the Swedish drug policy. Since 1988 possession of illegal drugs is criminal and since 1993 one can be sentenced to prison for possession. (Note, its consumption -- not possession). "No drug addict will stop abusing heroin because he risks being sentenced to prison for it", Bodström wrote. He meant that the criminalization of possession has not helped heavy drug abusers, but that it has meant that they have been excluded from society. [continues 395 words]
There is a hard battle being fought in the European narcotics debate between the liberal and restrictive positions. Sweden has represented the strongest support for a restrictive policy. Because of this, Justice Minister Thomas Bodstroms position on drug issues is important. Already on his first working day he was forced to back away from a two year old debate article. Minister of Justice Thomas Bodstrom no longer stands by his earlier criticism of the governments narcotics policy. Two years ago he called the criminalisation of drugs meaningless and opportunistic. Now he fully supports it. [continues 408 words]
Indictments for drug possession have increased dramatically at the same time as indictments for drug dealing have halved. This is shown by statistics from the years 1993-1997 that the National Council for Crime Prevention have studied, says radio of Sweden's Ekot. The reason for the increase is believed to be the more stringent punishments for personal use of drugs seven years ago, the same time the police was given increased authority to take a drug test whenever there was a suspicion of a drug crime. [continues 79 words]
Justice Minister Thomas Bodstrom, 38, has said that the use of drugs should be permitted. In an article in the journal 'Liberal Debatt' two years ago he wrote that the criminalisation of narcotics consumption was a completely meaningless reform. Bodstrom has himself smoked hasch many times. "The criminal policy against those who abuse narcotics is extremly harsh and the criminalisation of narcotics has not led to a reduction in abuse. On the contrary, the effect has been the social marginalisation of drug abusers." [continues 355 words]
Questioning Swedish narcotics policy does not usually further ones political career. But now there is a remarkable exception. The countrys new Minister of Justice is not only known for his raw tackles on the football field and his deep commitment to refugee issues. He is also an open critic of the changes in narcotics policy during the 1980's and the subsequent intensive repression of drug abusers. In the periodical 'Liberal Debatt', nr 7/98 he wrote: "Sweden is conducting an extremely harsh criminal policy against those who abuse drugs. Consumption of narcotics has been illegal since 1988 and since 1993 has carried a prison sentence. Criminalisation has not resulted in a reduction in abuse and is more to be seen as a result of political opportunism. [continues 464 words]
The Swedish drugs adviser, Borje Dahl, claims that the restrictive Swedish narcotics policy has succeeded in reducing the number of young people using drugs in the country to under 3% (Irish Examiner, September 6, 2000). His claim is not supported by the Swedish Government's own published figures. According to that report the use of illegal drugs in Sweden is escalating out of control. Drug use amongst young people has more than doubled during the 1990s, with 18% of young men now using drugs. [continues 95 words]
SWEDISH drinkers are raising a glass to toast the European Union, following its refusal yesterday to drop demands to ease the Scandinavian country's draconian laws. Every Friday evening, thousands throughout the country queue for up to an hour at State-owned Systembolaget alcohol stores to buy supplies for the weekend. Inside, bottles of alcohol remain tantalisingly out of reach inside locked glass cabinets. Each is numbered. Customers give the numbers to staff, who get the drink from the back of the store. [continues 349 words]
Docent Ted Goldberg: We must abandon the myth that all who experiment with narcotics become addicts. In the past two decades Swedish drug policy has been geared to drive home the message that all non-medical use of narcotics constitutes abuse. In other words: All consumers are equal in this respect. Either reject all narcotics totally or you are an abuser. If a similar either/or attitude was transfered to alcohol it should mean that a glass of wine with dinner would make the drinker just as much an abuser as a down and out alcoholic. [continues 1533 words]
Against the background of yesterday's article about the drug habits of Stockholm's ninth grade pupils, Kristina Axen Olin, Member of the City Council's Social Affairs Board, tells SvD that there are plans to establish a drug center that, among other matters, shall create public opinion, educate teachers and distribute material to be used in the battle against alcohol and narcotic addiction. "The rapid developments in this area are unbelievable. New drugs all the time. You hardly know their names, leave alone what they look like. Not even our lawmakers can handle it." The study of 15-year olds is deeply disturbing, she says. Many drink habitually great quantities of beer, wine or alcohol. [continues 292 words]
STOCKHOLM, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Swedish customs authorities seized 243 kg (536 lb) of cocaine hidden in a banana container from Costa Rica, a record haul for the country with a street value of $126 million, officials said on Wednesday. Inspectors in the western port of Gothenburg discovered the cocaine in an eight-centimetre (three-inch) deep space separated by a dummy wall in the container. The bananas were unloaded at Gothenburg, and normally such a container would have been sent back empty. [continues 56 words]
The involvement of the police in narcotic prevention education appears to have little effect to change pupils attitudes to narcotics. That is the conclusion of a report from the Crime Prevention Council (BRA) which has investigated two of the educational programs, VAGA (a direct translation of DARE, translator's note) and the Rave Commission have designed as strategies to stave off drug use. Criminal statistics shows that drug use among Swedish youths is on the increase. Material from annual investigations into the drug use habits of youths also point to an increased drug use according to BRA. In 1997 those suspected of drug crimes of the ages 15 to 19 years old increased to about 13% of the total cases investigated. [continues 252 words]
400 of the county's 900 Gambians are involved in drug trade in Stockholm according to the Police. The Drug trade in Stockholm is growing at an immense rate. County police commissioner, Leif Jennekvist, gave an alarming picture of the situation this Thursday. He points out the African nation Gambia to be responsible for as good as all of the heroin trade, he also revealed that Somaliska Foreningen (The Somalian Association) in Stockholm has pleaded to the prosecutors office to take immediate measures against the strong increase in the use of Khat. Khat is an amphetamine preparation that is chewed to the size of a golf ball and which is now flooding, not only Sweden, but also entire Europe. "Somaliska Foreningen doesn't want the Khat problem here in Sweden," Jennekvist says. They are scared for their fellow countrymen, and don't want Swedish youths to get in contact with the drug. [continues 691 words]
Abuse increase in Sweden. The drug is on a decline in most EU-countries. Vienna. The last year's drug of choice looses popularity among EU-citizens. On the other hand, however, there is an increase in amphetamines, which are probably going to be more important than ecstasy in the future. It is made clear by a report for 1998 from the EU's so called drug observatory in Lisbon. The report is published today, Friday, in Vienna. Sweden is one of few countries where consumption of ecstasy still is increasing. The Drug observatory's view on ecstasy has changed since the last year's report. At that time, in 1997, ecstasy was considered to be a futuristic drug, and its harmful effects were considered to be insignificant. Today a new knowledge is added. "More and more points to that many consumers of ecstasy, whom have taken the drug for many years, can be affected by irreversible damages on the nerve system," says Richard Hartnoll, director of the Drugcentre's epidemiological department. That knowledge seems to have reached the consumers as well. But a more important cause for ecstasy's decline is, according to Richard Hartnoll, that its no longer seems to be modern. "It was a part of a youth culture in Holland and Great Britain for ten years, but there is ecstasy considered to be just one of many drugs," he says. To countries like Sweden and Finland, ecstasy arrived much later, and one might assume that the decline will arrive there also, probably with a delay of a couple of years. [continues 201 words]
Heroin trade. Preventive work and tougher measures are some of the proposals on how the growing heroin trade in Stockholm will be stopped. The Gambians responsible for the drug trade must be severely punished, says Rishala Njie, chairman in the Organization of Gambia. At the same time, Stockholm Police Commissions have to save 66 million Swedish crowns during 1999, something that among other things negatively affects the fight against the drug trade. Friday was an extremely rough day for Rishala Njie, chairman of the Organization of Gambia in Stockholm. He awoke to yesterdays Dagens Nyheter's headlines about the drug trades avalanche-like development, and city police commissioner Leif Jennekvist's claims that Gambia is responsible for as good as the entire heroin trade in Stockholm. "I am ashamed," says Njie "What has now happened is devastating for my country and I am deeply sorry for the illegal drug trade which takes place in the area around Sergels torg." "I don't question the information from the police," Njie emphasize, who has been living in Sweden since 1978, father of two, and in the middle of a taxi-education of the employment office's direction. [continues 643 words]
The increasingly solitary Swedish resistance is tempering the EU's liberalization moves to some degree. But several of the EU countries are now on a path to decrease or modify punishments for illegal drugs. As recently as this spring the Attorney General of Belgium ordered police and prosecutors to cease prosecutions of cannabis use, posession or cultivation. The idea is that the lawenforcement resources instead shall be used to prosecute traffic in "heavy narcotics". At this moment, authorities in Liege - the third largest city in Belgium - are debating a plan to legally prescribe established heroin to users. [continues 480 words]
(Brussels, SvD) Sweden's more and more lonesome opposition has at least stopped the EU from sliding towards a drugliberal stand. But several countries in europe are easing up on their drug laws. In Belgium the minister of justice commanded the police and attorneys to stop punishing the posession, use and cultivation of cannabis. The main idea is to concentrate policeforces to go after those involved with hard drugs. At this time the authorities are considering if, Liege, Belgiums third largest city, is going to be allowed to prescribe heroin to heavy addicts. It is already done since several years in the British city of Liverpool. As of last year, a campaign was launched in Great Britain to make cannabis and marijuana legal. The newspaper the Independent on Sunday has collected a lot of signatures, not the least from famous personalities, and two awards for civil courage in their campaign. [continues 496 words]
A SCANDINAVIAN study has found 90% of all cot death babies have "significant" level of nicotine in their bloodstream. The research, conducted by the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, also found a quarter of all victims had as much nicotine in their bodies as regular smokers. The institute published the findings in the US Journal of Paediatrics. They offer the first direct link between tobacco and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, long thought to be connected. This was the first study of its kind to measure the nicotine levels in the bodies of infants who had died suddenly. It also offered the first scientific evidence parental smoking is linked directly to the cot death of children. [continues 318 words]
STOCKHOLM---A 16-year ban on Saturday sales at Sweden's state-run alcohol shops could end if current Social Affairs Minister Margot Wallstrom has her way. Despite images internationally of Sweden as a liberal, free-living country, the sale of alcohol is tightly controlled by the state to discourage excessive drinking, with all but lowalcohol beer available only from state shops, or Systembolagets. The social affairs minister is campaigning to reopen alcohol shops Saturdays. She said that the large amounts of alcohol smuggled into Sweden to beat high taxes and the increased consumption of home brew had defeated the purpose of the closure. A survey in a National Railway Authority newspaper, Kupe, this summer found 68 percent of 1,000 Swedes questioned thought Systembolagets should open Saturdays. [continues 4 words]
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey on Monday praised Sweden's drug policies, saying they make far more sense than liberalized policies such as those in the Netherlands. McCaffrey, who's beginning a European fact-finding tour, sparked Dutch ire last week by saying the country's policy of letting its citizens use marijuana and other soft drugs for therapeutic and recreational purposes was ``an unmitigated disaster.'' The trip comes as the U.S. government launches a $1 billion, five-year ad campaign aimed at steering young people away from trying drugs. [continues 263 words]
STOCKHOLM, July 13 (Reuters) - A top U.S. policy official attacked tolerant Dutch drugs laws on Monday, blaming them for much higher rates of murder and other crime than in the United States. ``The murder rate in Holland is double that in the United States. The per capita crime rates are much higher than the United States,'' General Barry McCaffrey, the White House drugs policy chief, told a press briefing in Stockholm. McCaffrey said the United States had 8.22 murders per 100,000 people in 1995 compared to 17.58 in The Netherlands. Overall per capita crime rates in the United States totalled 5,278 per 100,000 compared to 7,928 in the Netherlands, he said. [continues 470 words]
The Swedes who signed the New York Times drug war proclamation answer Social Minister Margot Wallstrom: "Specify your accusations of drug liberalism". Social Minister Margot Wallstrom demands in her DN guest editorial 21/6 that the twelve Swedes who signed a proclamation on narcotics policy submitted to the UN Secretary General should "Come fowards and explain mo re cleary what it is they are really after". The proclamation was signed by 650 people from around the world, among th em were former UN Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar, chairman of international Pen, several current and former presidents, ministers and parliament members as well as Nobel laureates, high court judges and prominent researchers. [continues 1472 words]
Stockholm -TT- Anyone who criticize todays heavy handed narcotics policy is immediatly branded as a drug liberal. But there is a difference between advocating a milder narcotics policy and saying it is OK to sell cocaine in supermarkets contends one of the Swedes who recently signed a call for a new narcotics policy. "Margot Wallstrom [director of the Swedish Social Department] must explain what she means by a 'liberal attitude to drugs' if I am to say wether or not it is applicable in my case." [continues 498 words]
Now the government want to criminalize doping. Just as it is illegal to harm your body with narcotics, soon it will also be illegal to pump up with anabolic steroids. The purpose, of course, is well intentioned. The Government says the ban will give a clear signal of how seriously society regards doping. And it certainly is serious, no one denies that, but it is nevertheless not reasonable to pass laws just to send messages and political signals. Laws are too serious to be used in this way. In the first place people must believe in laws and respect them. A law forbidding doping is in practice nearly impossible to enforce, especially if people are taking testosterone or growth hormones or anything else that already exists in the body. And a law that cannot be enforced is not taken seriously with the result that respect for the law is diminished. It is exactly the same with the laws against taking narcotics or buying the services of prostitutes, there is no reasonable possibility of enforcing these laws and they end up as mere moral preaching and wagging fingers. [continues 185 words]
Many people have been troubled by the deafening silence that is the hallmark of Swedish narcotics policy. The development of the LVM-system (legally mandated compulsory treatment), the criminalisation of use itsel f and the constant escalation of penalties for narcotics offenses have take n place against a background of nearly total political unity and without th e slightest trace of rational argument and empirical knowledge that would establish wether or not these harsh measures might be effective. Such considerations should be present in the political process, even regarding drugs. But instead the arguments used to justify these actions are dominated by some old preconceived notions that need to be brought into t he light of day and discussed [continues 1718 words]
The governments of the world must unite against drug liberalism. The UN special session on narcotics is promising. Politicians must never fall for the cynical capitualtion that the legalization movement stands for. Today the Swedish social minister Margot Wallstrom will address the UN about the importance of fighting drugs. Queen Silvia of Sweden is taking part in a panel discussion about children, young people and narcotics during the UN drugs session. It is excellent that Sweden can show such a broad unity on the narcotics issue. [continues 393 words]
Governments of the world must stand up against drug liberalism. The UN session on narcotics is promising. Politicians must never fall for the cynical surrender that the legalization movement stand for. Today the Swedish social minister Margot Wallstrom will address the UN about the importance to fight against drugs. Queen Silvia of Sweden is taking part of the panel discussion about children, youth and narcotics during the UN meeting about drugs. It is nice that Sweden can show a broad unity on the narcotics issue. [continues 370 words]
Drug abuse in the form we observe it in society today began in earnest during the 1960's. Sweden was actually one of the first countries in Europe to develop an epidemic of intravenous drug abuse. The rest of Europe has since followed suit. Drug abuse has played a major role in the control policy debate and has had great effect upon criminal statistics and criminal policy. Narcotics are also the most common reason given for intensifying police co-operation in Europe. [continues 1351 words]
A couple of years ago, Swedish Television showed a film about South Africa. The film was about the love affair between a white man and a coloured woman. The couple knew of course about their country's laws against this type of relationship, and they did everything they could to conceal it. They never went out together, they only met at night, she used the backdoor to his house and was very careful not to keep her possessions in his apartment. [continues 1092 words]
In 1984 Nils Christie and Kettil Bruun published the book "The Good Enemy". In it they describe how a powerless group of drug addicts were singled out as enemies by a society in need of scapegoats. The war on drugs and drug users was presented as a ritual and collective purification process in which society drove out evil symbolised by drug addicts. Fourteen years later the war continues with unabated enthusiasm, although, judging from available statistics, without any success. The authors, Christie and Bruun, limit themselves in their description of the drug war to drug users, but they are not the only ones who have been defined as enemies. The other enemies are dissenters in the drug-political debate. They seem to constitute nearly as great a threat to society as the actual drug addicts. Dissenters are regarded as traitors to the well being of the nation, sometimes they are decried as advocates of the devil. [continues 774 words]
Inside Sweden
