[7] Substances which are classed as narcotics are categorized into five schedules: A study conducted in 2000 supported the view that the new tougher policy had a preventive effect on drug use.
[11][12] Additionally, low cocaine use may be due to the relative geographical separation of the country from the major ports of distribution, whereas illicit use of other drugs such as opioids and amphetamine are much more prevalent.
In Sweden, this is handled by the Swedish National Board of Forensic Medicine, the dead persons estate and relatives do not have to pay for this examination, it is paid for with tax money.
61 of the 792 contained traces of Heroin, the corresponding figure for Amphetamine was 51, Methadone 62, Alpraxzolam 105, Oxycodone 96, Buprnorfin 71, Alimemazin 63, Tramadol 63, Zipiklon 79, Cocaine 36 ... Statistics are published for the 15 most common drugs.
[19][20] A 2020 study from the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare reported the death rate from drug overdose in Sweden was of 6.46 per 100.000 inhabitants, second only to Iceland and nearly triple the average of Europe.
Gradually the supervisory authority, the Royal Medical Board, made more stringent recommendations for prescribing narcotic drugs.
The Riksdag believed that further debate was unnecessary since information, collected from the Royal Medical Board and the Police, stated that drug abuse was not a serious problem in Sweden.
The intention was to arrest more drug offenders, given the hope that a higher risk of getting caught in itself would have a more preventative effect then a long sentence.
In 1965, the legal prescription of drugs began in Stockholm, after a campaign strongly supported by Expressen, the biggest newspaper in Sweden in the 1960s.
[24] The Legal Prescription Program was controversial from the start; the users were allowed to determine the dosage and were given a few days ration with an option to refill when needed.
Section 1 was applied for offences of normal severity: illegal production, offering for sale, transfer, and possession of narcotics were punishable by fines or imprisonment for not more than two years.
Section 2 was applied for petty offences; punishable by fines only, nolle prosequi was easy to receive for minor drug crimes in the 1970s.
The Prosecutor General expressed the view that substances which threaten life or rapidly debilitate the addict should lead to the application of section 3 of the Narcotic Drugs Penalty Code.
In 1972, the Narcotic Drugs Penalty Code was strengthened again, increasing the maximum prison sentence to ten years for more severe crimes.
1969–72, was a period of temporarily increased police resources for drug law enforcement but also frequent waiving of persecution for possession of illegal substances.
Tougher prosecution policies were introduced by the chief prosecutor in Stockholm, and resources for drug law enforcement were again increased.
[38] In the 1980s and 1990s, lawmakers continued to make smaller modifications of the drug laws, expanding their coverage, increasing maximum sentences, altering early release rules, and introducing treatment options as an alternative to imprisonment to be used at the discretion of the courts.
In 1982, the Misuser Act (LVM) made it possible for municipalities to place very seriously drug dependent criminals in mandatory treatment with restrictions for a number of months.
In the same year, a special form of probation, contract treatment, became available as an alternative to imprisonment in cases of alcohol or drug-related crime.
There are three sub-objectives: In 2007, an updated study showed a continued decline in drug use among pupils and high school students.
The reason for this change in the law are a number of deaths due to ingestion of unclassified synthetic drugs, often sold in online stores.
[53] The last decade, the treatment of drug addicts with Methadone and Subutex and the number of people in the syringe exchange programs increased significantly.
Instead of serving a prison sentence of up to two years, the convicted person signs a contract with the court to undergo a treatment programme (at an institution or at home), to partake in non-custodial care, or both.
[59] Almost every municipality has its own local anti-drug coordinator to provide a broad drug preventive work directed at youths, in cooperation with politicians, police, church, educational associations and societies.
[64][65] Regular urine and sweat test are performed, dogs trained to find drugs are also used and more strict control of visitors.
[66] In addition to traditional methods, e.g. education and social rehabilitation, a large range of national treatment programmes are offered.
[17] The Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare believes that the reported increase very largely is result of improved, more sophisticated methods to detect drug-related deaths and more analyzes of blood than before.
There is also a line of statistics for which all cases where illicit drugs are detected in the blood of the deceased is registered, the so-called Toxbase.
[69][72][73] In 2018 it was reported that there was "alarmingly high rates of hepatitis C among people who inject drugs" and that there had been a "600% increase in drug-induced deaths over the last 20 years" in Sweden.
Nabiximols, trade name Sativex, a cannabinoid oromucosal mouth spray, was approved in December 2011, for multiple sclerosis (MS); only on prescription as a third alternative to two other approved drugs for that condition to patients who not responded adequately to other medication for spasticity and show a clinically relevant improvement of symptoms related to spasticity during an initial trial treatment.