How did Sweden end up with its zero-tolerance attitude to drugs?
Since the late 1960s, government after government has constantly sought to drill a zero-tolerance message into the public mind.
Wednesday, May 3, 2023
Johan Wicklén, a prize-winning journalist for Sweden's public broadcaster SVT, published a book on the history of Swedish drugs policy titled Vi ger oss aldrig, or "We will never give way", subtitled: "This is what happened when Sweden lost the war on drugs". Generations of Swedes, Wicklén argues, have been through a process of indoctrination on drug use and drug policy, making it difficult for policy makers today to propose more rational, pragmatic solutions to the problem. Sweden's hardline stance on drugs was set in the late 1970s. "That's when the authorities formulated the idea of a drug-free society. That's when we were starting to distance ourselves from a lot of other countries. The policy is restrictive: that means that illegal drugs are not tolerated in any way."
