National-level drug policy and young people's illicit drug use: A multilevel analysis of the European Union

This article explores the role of daily print media in the formation of policies on illicit drug use. It asks how we might think about the rote of the media in making drug policy and how the print media represent the use of heroin. In answering these questions through an examination of the complex process of problem making, the article suggests it may help us to better understand how issues which policy-makers identify as ‘problems’ come to achieve such a status, and how solutions that come to be regarded as ‘realistic’ — or not — reach this point.

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Article

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs ◽

10.1177/1455072598015005-604 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 15 (5-6) ◽

pp. 262-277

Author(s):

Svanaug Fjær

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Drug Policy ◽

Common Knowledge ◽

National Level ◽

Health Sector ◽

Central Position ◽

Central Administration ◽

The European Union ◽

Policy Integration ◽

The Impact

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.

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Estimating prevalence of problem drug use at national level in countries of the European Union and Norway

Addiction ◽

10.1046/j.1360-0443.2003.00326.x ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 98 (4) ◽

pp. 471-485 ◽

Cited By ~ 79

Author(s):

Ludwig Kraus ◽

Rita Augustin ◽

Martin Frischer ◽

Petra Kümmler ◽

Alfred Uhl ◽

...

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Drug Use ◽

National Level ◽

The European Union ◽

Problem Drug Use ◽

Problem Drug

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Has illicit drug use become normalised in groups of Swedish youth? A latent class analysis of school survey data from 2012 to 2015

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs ◽

10.1177/1455072518814306 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 21-35 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Patrik Karlsson ◽

Mats Ekendahl ◽

Josefin Månsson ◽

Jonas Raninen

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Latent Class Analysis ◽

Drug Policy ◽

Drug Users ◽

Illicit Drugs ◽

Latent Class ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

Illicit Drug Users ◽

High Prevalence

Background: It is often assumed that illicit drug use has become normalised in the Western world, as evidenced for example by increased prevalence rates and drug-liberal notions in both socially advantaged and disadvantaged youth populations. There is accumulating research on the characteristics of young illicit drug users from high-prevalence countries, but less is known about the users in countries where use is less common. There is reason to assume that drug users in low-prevalence countries may be more disadvantaged than their counterparts in high-prevalence countries, and that the normalisation thesis perhaps does not apply to the former context. Aim: This article aims to explore to what extent such assertions hold true by studying the characteristics of young illicit drug users in Sweden, where prevalence is low and drug policy centres on zero tolerance. Material and Method: We draw on a subsample ( n = 3374) of lifetime users of illicit drugs from four waves of a nationally representative sample of students in 9th and 11th grade (2012–2015). Latent class analysis (LCA) on ten indicators pertaining to illicit drug use identified four classes which we termed “Marijuana testers”, “Marijuana users”, “Cannabinoid users” and “Polydrug users”. Findings: Indications of social advantage/disadvantage such as peer drug use, early substance-use debut and truancy varied across groups, particularly between “Marijuana testers” (low scores) and “Polydrug users” (high scores). Conclusions: Our findings corroborate the idea that the majority of those who have used illicit drugs in the Swedish youth population have tried marijuana a few times only. We discuss whether or not the comparably large share of socially advantaged “Marijuana testers” in a comparably small sample of lifetime users can be interpreted as a sort of normalisation in a prohibitionist drug policy context.

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Imaginary Drug Control and the Failures of Contemporary Australian Drug Policy

Contemporary Drug Problems ◽

10.1177/0091450920905372 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 47 (1) ◽

pp. 29-42

Author(s):

Margaret Pereira ◽

John Scott ◽

Amanda Beem

Keyword(s):

Drug Use ◽

Drug Policy ◽

Illicit Drugs ◽

Illicit Drug ◽

Illicit Drug Use ◽

Well Being ◽

Drug Control ◽

Law And Order ◽

Harm Minimization ◽

The One

Contemporary Australian drug policy is characterized by a tension between punitive law and order responses that invoke the myth of sovereign power and responsibilizing strategies that “(re)moralize” individuals, holding them responsible for their safety, security, and well-being. This article argues that this blending of neoliberal techniques of governance, such as harm minimization, with neoconservative methods of rule typified in prohibitionist policies, presents a paradoxical policy response to illicit drug use. We explore the development and contemporary practice of a dualistic Australian drug policy that, on the one hand, promotes pragmatic interventions based on harm reduction while, on the other, relies on law and order strategies and traditional penal powers to deter illicit drug use. Drawing on Pat Carlen’s concept of imaginary penalities, we argue that this imaginary form of drug control is underpinned largely by symbolic measures that, in attempting to address public demands for safety and security, reproduce a punitive form of governance that fails to achieve its desired outcomes. Using qualitative interview data from a sample of 29 people who used drugs, and 15 professionals working in the drugs field, this article investigates responses to the contemporary governance of illicit drugs in Queensland. Based on the research findings, we argue that the conjoined nature of Australian drugs governance can be understood as imaginary drug control because it constantly recreates the conditions that perpetuate drug-related harm.

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