Swedish Drug Treatment and the Political Use of Conceptual Innovation 1882–1982

Abstract

This article investigates the concepts applied to drug use and drug users in Sweden during the years 1882–1982. As a theoretical point of departure, concepts are treated as political tools and conceptual descriptions as political work. From an analysis of 43 public reports, three distinct periods stand out. In the first period, 1882–1962, there was no specific political need for conceptual clarity. During the second period, 1964–1969, the political need for certain (medicalized) concepts is more evident. Drug users were understood as sick and as potential objects for compulsory treatment. In the third period, during the mid-1970s and early 1980s, the process was reversed: specific concepts of sick drug users gave way to creating the political means for bringing alcohol and other drug users under joint treatment legislation.