"A Drug-Free World" Rationality & Drug Control

Abstract: This paper aims to illuminate the strategies of international and national drug control. As globalization affects the global drug problem and the possibilities of controlling the same, an effective drug control at the international level is highly important. The Swedish drug policy is considered good through international standards but it is based on restrictive policies aiming towards a drug free society through effective control and enhanced police measures. This goal is not considered realistic by all States and in Sweden, an increase in drug-related problems are identified as mirroring the sharpened control policy and increased police measures. Through a descriptive method and interviews with police officers, the police´s role in the Swedish control documents is ascertained. This is then compared with the strategies in the international control documents, in order to elucidate how the control harmonizes from the international to the national level. The result demonstrates that the police are given a continued prioritized role as the main player in the Swedish drug control and that the restrictive policies are further tightened in the new action plan. On the whole, these strategies harmonize with the international drug control, but their negative effects on the development of drug-related problems counteract international aims based on the health of human beings and human rights. The overall research question, if the strategies in "a society free from drugs" can be rational in a globalized world, is answered through Foucault's concept of power, governmentality and discipline which constitute theoretical tools in an analytical discussion. In relation to the outcome, it is difficult to see the Swedish drug control as rational as it work against its own purpose and deepen problems within both the society and for the individual drug abuser, which in turn counter the principles on which the international control documents are based.