CANNABIS LAWS

Sir--Stephen McIntyre (November 5) forgets that Sweden used to have the type
of drug laws his party proposes but reversed them due to disastrous
increases in, especially, youth drug use.

The 1999 ESPAD report compares drug use of high school students across 30
European countries. Only 3 per cent of Swedish teens used cannabis in the
last month versus 18 per cent in Holland (a country whose laws Mr McIntyre
would have us follow). The 2000 UN World Drug Report puts cannabis use of
all ages in Sweden at only 0.1 per cent versus 5.2 per cent in Holland. The
1997 report had lifetime use of all drugs by 15 to 26-year-olds at 9 per
cent in Sweden versus 56 per cent in Australia (supposedly our model for
harm reduction).

Sweden's model uses the police's powers, focusing on treatment not
criminalising users, to effect drug-free outcomes, the success of which is
statistically undeniable.

Jeff McIntyre, chairman, The Youth Trust November 5, 2001