Evaluation of Sweden's 2006-2010 Drug Control Strategy

"SNIPH was given the task of evaluating the strategy for the period 2006-2010 and a final report was published in autumn 2010 (Statens folkhälsoinstitut, 2010b). In summary, a more negative development was observed for narcotics than for alcohol, with increasing harm in the form of ill-health, mortality and crime. While efforts to attain the goals in the area of alcohol have intensified, efforts in the area of narcotics have stagnated.
"As stated in the evaluation report, the organisation of preventive work at the national, regional and local level is crucial to the development of national objectives in the action plans. At the regional level, impressions of the county drug coordinators' activities are all consistently positive. National support for coordination, as well as the support from the county drug coordinators at the local level, has had a positive impact. The number of coordinators funded by the municipalities has increased during the action plan period, but many municipalities cannot or will not prioritise this function.
"The ultimate objective of the narcotics policy – a drug-free society – has not been achieved. However, it should be emphasised that the restrictive narcotics policy long pursued in Sweden has radically reduced the use of narcotics and its harmful effects. Nevertheless, the overall assessment is that the trend during the period up until 2009 went in the wrong direction, with an increase in harmful effects in the form of morbidity, mortality and crime. The evaluation report further states that the narcotics trend is difficult to interpret due to lack of reliable data.
"The spread of effective prevention methods to regional and local levels was stated by the evaluator to have worked well, although it was more effective in the area of alcohol than narcotics."