WARNING SIGNS IN A MINEFIELD

This is an open letter to Australians who care about drugs and the
future.

Don't make the same mistakes that we have made in Sweden.

Our experience is that it is possible to combat drugs and drug abuse.
But to do that you need knowledge on all levels in society (including
politicians); commitment; strategies; political leadership; and money.

I also am convinced that when it comes to the drug problem people in
general, and politicians especially, should go more by helicopter.

Meaning that they should not get stuck with details but rather to get
an overview and to see all the different parts of the problem and the
consequences of policy or the lack of policy.

Australia has now come to a crossroad and has to choose which policy
it shall have for the future.

In this aspect I hope that the Swedish experiences can be of interest
and hopefully encourage you to choose to plan for and move towards a
drug-free Australia.

The Swedish experiences are that it is possible to combat drugs. We
succeeded.

In the early '60s Sweden was maybe the first drug-liberal country in
Europe.

With the flower-power movement came hash and marijuana and of course
other drugs. We didn't pay much attention, it was a part of the culture.

After some years we realised we were developing drug problems. The
increase in the number of drug addicts was exploding. Then we made the
fatal mistake of trying to control the drug problem by giving some
doctors the power to prescribe drugs to addicts.

In that time, between l965-67, one doctor distributed for 100
patients: 482,000 pill of amphetamine and 15,000 litres for injection;
43,000 pills of morphine and 335 litres for injection.

These are 10 to 100 times the "normal" doses.

Of course, the drugs were sold or shared with friends. The response to
this trial was a 300 to 400 per cent increase in addicts.

At this point Swedish parents were outraged and the power of their
voices demanded that all politicians from every party work together to
legislate and fund a policy towards a drug-free society. That goal has
not changed since 1968.

We are still working towards that goal.

OUR successes in the 1980s were wonderful. Drug use, including
cannabis, was arrested. It was reduced to only 3 per cent.

Currently, use of drugs among young people in Australia is 52 per
cent. The way we did this was through a policy that is restrictive --
not repressive. There are no people in Swedish jails for drug abuse.

The first and most important part of our policy is prevention. The
second is treatment and the smallest, but still very important, part
is the law that gives us the tools to prevent and to treat.

The school is the hub for prevention. We trained teachers who were 100
per cent in support of a drug-free society, to teach our young people
who to remain drug-free. This we did in all areas of the curriculum
not just in health. Our aim was to give young people a "vaccination"
by developing attitudes which are opposed to drug use. We taught
younger children how to resist peer pressure. In maths for example the
children might look at drug statistics and so on for all the other
subject areas.

We educated parents about the drugs and how to help their child to say
no.

For those who did begin to use, we established treatment. This ranged
from counselling sessions for the young person and their family to
compulsory treatment when it became obvious that the addiction was
ongoing and no outpatient program was working.

All this treatment was drug free and it still is today. It is funded
entirely by government money raised by taxes.

The laws we created are tools to make it easy for young people to say
no to drugs; they also enable us to put into treatment people who are
unable to break with their addiction.

Sometimes this is the only way to help a person back to health and the
future they deserve - free of addiction.

We do not put addicts in jail we get them into treatment. There is no
one in a Swedish jail for being an addict.

And now to the sad part. We were successful in the 1980s. But in
the 1990s we took our eye off the ball so to say. We shifted our
education into the biology-health curriculum and stopped teaching
across all subjects.

WE reduced the amount of treatment we were offering. This resulted in
an increase in use rates again. So at the end of the 90s we had 9 per
cent of our young people who had tried illegal drug use.

We know that we made that mistake and have the support of 98 per cent
of Swedish people to return again to a stronger effort in education
and in treatment.

So we have had our successes and our failures. We believe that 9 per
cent of young people exposed to illegal drugs is a warning alarm to
our society.

Australians do not love their children any less than we Swedes.
Everyone believes drug addiction will not come to them or the people
they love, but the most successful way to ensure it does not come to
your family is to work for a drug-free society.

Yours truly,

MaLou Lindholm, Former Member of the European Parliament (Swedish
Green) For summit details contact www.wesleymission.org.au/drug summit

SIDE BAR - ZERO TOLERANCE

* Abstinence based drug-free programs such as Narcotics Anonymous and
"Jusy Say No" * Support of restrictive laws such as those in Sweden
where drug use is illegal * Opposition to long-term methadone and
other heroin replacement programs * Opposition to needle exchange and
safe injecting rooms that encourage heroin use * Strict enforcement of
existing laws * Opposition to any "softening" of drug laws (eg.
cannabis cautioning programs for juveniles) and policies.