The Swedish government is planning to increase the minimum sentence for the transfer of small amounts of drugs to six months in prison from July 1. This move is part of a long-standing tradition of strict measures against drugs in Sweden. However, Liberal Member of Parliament Anna Starbrink views these proposals as outdated and a step in the wrong direction, advocating for a restructuring of Swedish drug policy towards care and dignity. Her party supports investing in patient rooms for addicts to take drugs under medical supervision and investigating the effects of criminalizing drug use. Starbrink believes that the restrictive approach to drugs in Swedish politics is reflexive and not based on knowledge, hindering many from seeking help. While partners in the government remain closed to a more liberal drug policy, Starbrink plans to persuade them with good arguments, pointing out the need for a shift in policy based on facts and science.
If the government gets its way, the minimum sentence for the transfer of small amounts of drugs will be increased to six months in prison on July 1. At the same time, attempts at minor drug offenses are criminalized.
The proposals are in line with a long Swedish tradition of tough measures against drugs. They are also, according to Liberal Member of Parliament Anna Starbrink, an expression of an outdated policy and another step in the wrong direction.
Her own party is part of the government, but in fact advocates a completely different drug policy, she emphasizes. This includes an investment in patient rooms where addicts can take their drugs under the supervision of healthcare staff. As well as investigating the effects of Swedish drug legislation and specifically the criminalization of own use.
– Sweden’s Riksdag today has a very repressive stance and it is only necessary to state that there is currently no political majority for our line. In politics you have to give and take, and we have to live with it. But we continue the work. We need to build Swedish drug policy on facts and science.
“Care and Dignity”
In recent years, Anna Starbrink has belonged to the few politicians who have actively pushed for a restructuring of Swedish drug policy.
– There are so many people who get hurt and we have a relatively high drug-related mortality rate in Sweden. I think it’s time we move from punishment and stigma to care and dignity, she says.
As a regional councilor in Stockholm with responsibility for health and medical care, she has over the years had a lot of exchange with activities within addiction care. Experiences that have made it obvious to her that the restrictive policy does not work.
– The profession speaks of this as a major obstacle for many people. You do not dare to seek and get help for your addiction because you have committed a criminal act.
Simple dogma
According to Anna Starbrink, the restrictive view of drugs in Swedish politics is almost reflexive.
– It is not based on knowledge, but is just repetition of previous arguments. But because we have had this dogmatic stance, there has been no broad discussion, which we would need to increase the understanding that we have to shift direction in politics.
TT: Why is that attitude so deep-seated?
– It is simple. It neither requires deeper reflection, that one reads oneself and takes in new facts or looks out into the world.
“Very strange”
The government colleagues the Moderates and the Christian Democrats close the door to a more liberal drug policy. Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed (KD) recently stated in SVT’s Agenda that the government, like the previous one, does not want to investigate the criminalization of its own practice.
– We must dare to investigate in order to get solid knowledge material on the table so that we can discuss the pros and cons. That politics should be based on facts seems to be what the minister himself is striving for, so to me it is very strange, says Anna Starbrink.
TT: The door looks very closed. How are you going to win over your partner party?
– With good arguments. Sometimes it takes several decades, but eventually you succeed. You simply must not give up. Take the NATO issue – twenty years ago it was only the Liberals, today it is a matter of course for several parties.
Drug room in Oslo where a man takes his drugs under the supervision of medical staff. Anna Starbrink has put forward a proposal to make Stockholm an experimental municipality for user rooms in Sweden. Archive image. Image: Heiko Junge/NTB/TT
• Preventive work and early interventions for children and young people in addiction.
• User rooms for injecting drug users of the same type that exist in Norway and Denmark.
• Transfers dependency care in its entirety to healthcare from social services.
• Readily available life-saving drugs such as naloxone, which can reverse an overdose, for example for police, security guards and relatives.
• Investigate the decriminalization of drug use and possession for personal use.
Use of narcotics has been illegal in Sweden since 1988. A central argument when the law was introduced was to keep down the use of drugs among young people.
With only fines in the punishment scale, the police had no opportunity to act on suspected use, and the law was considered toothless. In 1993, the law was tightened, and the maximum penalty was increased to imprisonment for up to six months.
The increase in penalties gave the police the opportunity to demand urine or blood samples in case of suspected drug offences.
Annually, around 40,000 people require body fluids to check for drug addiction.
The government has recently put forward proposals for further stiffening of penalties for minor drug offences. Among other things, it is proposed that attempted drug crimes be criminalized, and the minimum sentence for the sale of small amounts of drugs be increased to six months in prison.
The proposals have received criticism from, among others, the Swedish Judicial Agency, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Public Health Agency.