Sweden is often portrayed as a success story in relation to drugs policy, not least by its own diplomats on the international stage and by the UN. But the evidence warns of urgent public health problems that Swedish politicians are currently failing to address. On the UN international day against drugs (Thursday, 26th June), some reality checking is needed.
The EU elections last month were an opportunity to review the manifestos of each of the main political parties in Sweden. Despite fundamental differences in ideologies the main parties are all pretty much all in agreement when it comes to drugs. Across the board they call for more of the same approaches that have barely changed for decades, based on the vision of a 'drug free society'.
These strikingly similar manifestos make for unsettling reading when compared to the data released in earlier this month by the European Monitoring Centre on Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA). The EMCDDA is the focal evidence-gathering hub on drugs issues for the European Union. It relies on data from national focal points and compiles the European Drugs Report every year comparing figures from across the region.
Sweden has had some successes over time: lower than average cannabis and ecstasy use rates compared to the EU, for example, and generally lower rates of drug use among school age students, which is good to see. The extent to which these are a result of drug policy per se questionable, of course, but in any case these are by no means the only take-away messages. There are also serious problems.
Sweden has one of the highest hepatitis C rates among people who inject drugs in the whole of the EU. The Stockholm needle exchange has recorded prevalence at between 83% and 85%. Hepatitis C is a blood borne virus that, left untreated, can lead to cirrhosis of the liver and death.
There are, in addition, only five needle and syringe progammes in operation in the entire country; none in the second largest city, where I live, Göteborg. Reducing hepatitis C transmission requires a lot of effort including the distribution of a range of sterile commodities such as cookers and swabs alongside needles and syringes; and of course widespread voluntary testing and treatment.
That leads to the next problem. Sweden has no population size estimate for people who inject drugs. While we know that at least four fifths of people who inject drugs have hepatitis C we have no idea how many people need treatment for it, nor how many people need to be reached with needle and syringe programmes. Sweden is not doing nearly enough on a clear epidemic in the country.
