Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

Svanaug Fjær: The European Union and Drug Policy. Integration through control and production of knowledge

In this article the influence of EU initiatives on national drug policies is discussed with special attention paid to the separation between control and prevention in drug policy. At national levels, policy administration is separated between the ministries responsible for treatment and prevention and the ministries responsible for control and punishment. This separation is parallel to the division established by the pillar structure of the Treaty of the European Union.

A study of the Europeanization processes at the central administration level in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands showed that the growth in co-operative activity in the EU has been largest in the Ministries of Justice, while, due to establishment of focal points in the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), the growth in the health sector has happened in administrative bodies outside of the ministries. The networks which are developed and the means available are different in the justice and health sectors. In the third pillar (justice), practical and technical cooperation have developed in the form of EUROPOL and the Early Warning System on Synthetic Drugs. Sharing of information and the development of a common knowledge-base seems to be the basis of first-pillar (health) cooperation. In the three countries studied the Ministries of Health, which traditionally have had a central position at the national level, seem to have been allotted a less important role in the international co-operation. It is, however, argued that the impact of co-operation in the EM-CDDA should not be underestimated. Both common control and the development of a European base of knowledge contribute to the integration process in the drug field, but the premises for the process are set by the demand for control.

Helgi Gunnlaugsson: Drug use, attitudes and control policies in Iceland. A comparison with the other Nordic countries

Studies on the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs have frequently been conducted in Iceland in the past few years. These studies have mostly involved use among youth, so trends in the adult population have not yet been mapped out to the same extent. In this presentation, findings from the first ever general population survey on drug use in Iceland will be presented. Prompted by the Nordic Drug Survey, in which Iceland did not take part, a few questions from that survey were adopted in a survey conducted in Iceland in late 1997.

Based on the Nordic comparative figures, it appears that Iceland is in some respects not very different from the other Nordic nations. Yet lifetime prevalence of cannabis use was found to be significantly higher in Iceland than in the other Nordic nations, except for Denmark, which clearly is in a league of its own. However, if the use in the last 6 months is analysed, Iceland is very similar to the other Nordic nations. The consumption pattern, in terms of age and gender, seems also to follow the general pattern found in the other Nordic nations. As for attitudes toward different control measures, it is apparent that the public in all of the Nordic countries seems to be in favour of adopting unconventional control methods in the fight against drugs.