The Swedish regulation of drugs has been a highly politicized issue since drugs became a problem in Sweden in the middle of the 20th century. Since the introduction of the Penal Law on Narcotics (1968:64) (PLN), multiple criminalizations and increased penalties have been implemented, with the overall aim to defeat the drug problem in society. The goal has been a ”drug-free society” with zero tolerance as a key concept. Criminalizations and increased penalties constitute limitations in people’s autonomy. The essay thus, through a legal genetic method, aimes to examine whether the development of the Swedish regulation of drugs has been compatible with basic principles for criminalization. The principles are not absolute and the assessment of when a principle can be considered violated highly depends on the approach to the relationship between the government and its citizens, making it difficult to give a clear answer. However, the principles described in the essay have helped identify certain tendencies in the development of the regulation of drugs in Sweden that can be subject to questioning. For instance, when there have been doubts about whether an action should be criminalized or not the action has been criminalized, which can be seen as a violation of the presumption that a criminalizion should not be implemented when there are doubts. Certain deliberations which, out of consideration for the interests of individuals, resulted in abstaining from criminalizing an action or limiting the extent of a criminalization have been waived in favor of increased efficiency. Furthermore, flaws in the justification of criminalizations that relate to an action carried out to oneself have been seen. For example, there has been a lack of discussion about which interest primarily motivated the criminalization of drug use and how it weighs in relation to the interest of self-determining. Finally, the restrictive drug policy pursued in Sweden has not led to any measurable results on the access to or demand for drugs. In addition, the drug-related mortality in Sweden has increased while the strict prohibition of drugs has entailed both quantitative and qualitative costs for society.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-229180 |
| Date | January 2024 |
| Creators | Carlström, Boel |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Juridiska institutionen |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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