Det drogförebyggande arbetet i Sverige 2007, 3.45 MB - Statens ...

Summary
Drug prevention work
in Sweden in 2007
Report on preventive work to combat
alcohol, narcotics and tobacco related
problems in Sweden during 2007.
The availability of alcohol and narcotics continued
to increase in Sweden in 2007. The total
consumption of alcohol levelled out over the year
and only minor changes were noted compared to
2006. Sales by Systembolaget (the Swedish Alcohol
Retail Monopoly) increased while private
imports by travellers, smuggling, and internet
sales showed a slight decrease.
On the whole, use of narcotics has decreased.
A worrying increase in the use of primarily cannabis
has however been noted among ninth-graders
in Stockholm. All in all, Sweden deviates noticeably
from the trend in the rest of Europe which
is moving towards increased use of all narcotic
substances.
On the other hand, most types of harm
increased. Acute alcohol-related harm, primarily
alcohol poisoning but also traffic fatalities
and assaults continued to increase during 2007.
Chronic injuries such as liver damage increased at
a slower rate. Narcotics related deaths increased
relatively dramatically during 2007 after a long
period of declining mortality rates. The number
of narcotics related hospital admissions seems
to indicate small changes. Contagious infections
related to intravenous narcotics use, for example
hepatitis and HIV, increased however in 2007.
Tobacco consumption in Sweden has decreased
significantly in Sweden since the beginning of the
1980s, even though tobacco use remains our
largest single public health problem. Tobacco
use is one of the main reasons for differences in
health in society because socio-economically dis-
8 Det DRoGFöRebyGGANDe ARbetet I SveRIGe 2007
advantaged groups smoke and use wet snuff to
a considerably greater degree than other groups.
Tobacco consumption continued to decline in
general during 2007, but use by women and
young people is showing an increase.
Preventive activities aimed primarily at alcohol
and narcotics have increased continuously over
the years since 2000, and continued to increase
during 2007. This is due to a large extent to the
government grants paid to the municipalities
through the county administrative boards. In
addition, voluntary organisations have also been
able to do more thanks to support provided by
the National Board of Health and Welfare. More
municipalities have developed their organisation
for preventive work; for example, more full-time
alcohol and drug coordinators are now employed
and the municipalities’ alcohol and drug policy
action plans have been improved. Cooperation
with other actors such as the healthcare services,
the police, voluntary organisations and trade and
industry has also been developed and more preventive
activities have been carried out. In comparison
to the preventive work done with regard
to alcohol and drugs, there are remarkably few
initiatives concerning tobacco. It is, however,
gratifying to see increased activity on the part
of the municipalities as regards tobacco policies.
All in all, the work carried out since 2000 show
a picture of broad national mobilisation, where
almost all municipalities and a great many voluntary
organisations participated.
The increase in activity has chiefly been aimed
at reducing the demand for alcohol and narcotics,
with young people as the main target group. On
the other hand, there was no noticeable effort to
reduce availability during the 2000-2007 period.
Public support for a restrictive policy on alcohol,
narcotics and tobacco grew in 2007. Preventive
work at the local level was developed and