control and welfare in danish drug policy - Journal of Drug Issues

CONTROL AND WELFARE IN DANISH DRUG POLICYinstitutions. This meant that as subjects of Government, drug users were defined asnormal social citizens of the welfare state and no longer as deviant criminals. Withreference to the literature on Dutch drug policy (Leuw, 1991; Grapendaal, & Nelen,1995) one could say that the demand aspect of the drug problem was “normalized,”as it became a social problem that was no different to other social problems.FROM WELFARE TO CONTROLIn 2000, sensational reports on the widespread use of ecstasy among youngpeople, particularly at party venues, and reports on deaths attributed to ecstasy,once again made illegal drug use an important public issue. These sensationalistreports were underscored by surveys that revealed a large increase in illegal druguse generally among young people in Denmark during the 1990s (Hibell et al.,2000; Sundhedsstyrelsen, 2000). The surveys showed that cannabis was still byfar the most popular drug, but also revealed a trend toward the increased use ofstimulants. The new drug problem became part of a more general concern aboutthe use of intoxicating substances among young people in Denmark, as Europeansurveys showed that young people in Denmark consumed more alcohol and starteddrinking alcohol earlier than young people in any other country (Hibell et al., 1997;2000). An image of “a new culture of intoxication” (Measham & Brain, 2005)among young people began to take shape that constituted a new drug problem(Balvig, Holmberg, & Sørensen, 2005; Ege, 2003; Gundelach & Järvinen, 2006;Østergaard, 2007). In 1999, the National Board of Health commissioned a qualitativestudy of experiences and attitudes toward drugs among young people in Denmark(Sundhedsstyrelsen, 2000) and in 2000, the Board conducted a series of regionalhearings to gather information about changes among young people on the drugscene. Both the hearings and the evaluation reported a more liberal attitude towardillegal drugs among young people. This more liberal attitude meant that illegaldrug use was becoming an integral part of the youth culture as such. The hearingsand evaluation also reported that illegal drug use was particularly associated withthe night-time party scene where distinctions between legal and illegal drugs werebeginning to fade and drugs were becoming intoxicating consumer goods.Consumption has become more common: Young people do not lookat drug use as an isolated phenomenon among socially marginalizedyoung people, nor as a trend that is “only” practiced in avant-gardetechno and hip-hop environments. Consumption of synthetic drugshas become modern and acceptable by the broad mainstreamof young people who enjoy a fast-paced youth existence full ofexperiences. [ . . . ] [T]he way young people use illegal drugs hascome to resemble the alcohol culture: it is acted out in public inFALL 2010791