Youth, drugs and police strategies

In the last few years, young people's experimental use of narcotics has often attracted attention in Sweden. Findings from annual surveys of young people's drug habits indicate that the use of drugs among youth has increased. In the public debate regarding this issue, it has been emphasised that forceful efforts must be made to thwart this negative trend in development. Furthermore, in the Government authorities' directives for the police, the fight against narcotics has been given a high priority. This report presents the results of two investigations of the police's preventive strategies as regards the narcotics problem among youth.