Cannabis i Sverige och Portugal - En komparativ studie mellan två olika drogstrategier
Author
Summary, in English
Drug policies are today a deeply discussed subject and types of legislation, ideas and thoughts differ from country to country. The purpose of this paper is to examine the widely different narcotic policies of Portugal and Sweden, as a means to through sociological theory analyze and portray the different motives, results and effects on society and the individual. Both Sweden and Portugal use societal control to be able to deal with problems narcotics entail. However, the two countries stand as antipoles against each other as to what level and type of control is considered adequate. Portugal has decrimininalized all use of drugs, including cannabis, while Sweden pursues a very restrictive approach.
The conclusions we have been able to draw is that both of these approaches have resulted in both negative and positive consequences in the two countries, but in different fields. Sweden is far away from achieving the utopic vision of a drug free society and has a large marginalization of addicts. Drug mortality is high in Sweden, but the amount of drug users are fewer than in Portugal, where cannabis consumption has increased since the country’s drug reform was put into use in 2001. The Portuguese strategy has improved the chances for successful treatment and social reintegration. Past problems in Portugal with heavy drug use and the problems it caused has been significantly improved by the drug reform, which was one of the reasons for its introduction.
The impact of sanctions on cannabis use leads to a snowball effect in which the person is forced out of society towards marginalization, labeling and alienation. Once this has happened it becomes difficult to reintegrate these people. This paper shows how the drug policy in Portugal offers greater possibilities for reintegration for those with problematic drug use than what is offered in Sweden.
The conclusions we have been able to draw is that both of these approaches have resulted in both negative and positive consequences in the two countries, but in different fields. Sweden is far away from achieving the utopic vision of a drug free society and has a large marginalization of addicts. Drug mortality is high in Sweden, but the amount of drug users are fewer than in Portugal, where cannabis consumption has increased since the country’s drug reform was put into use in 2001. The Portuguese strategy has improved the chances for successful treatment and social reintegration. Past problems in Portugal with heavy drug use and the problems it caused has been significantly improved by the drug reform, which was one of the reasons for its introduction.
The impact of sanctions on cannabis use leads to a snowball effect in which the person is forced out of society towards marginalization, labeling and alienation. Once this has happened it becomes difficult to reintegrate these people. This paper shows how the drug policy in Portugal offers greater possibilities for reintegration for those with problematic drug use than what is offered in Sweden.
Department/s
Publishing year
2014
Language
Swedish
Full text
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Document type
Student publication for Bachelor's degree
Topic
- Social Sciences
Keywords
- marginalisering
- stämpling
- avvikelse
Supervisor
- Malin Åkerström