Sweden's Syringe Exchange Debate: Moral Panic in a Rational Society
- 1 April 1994
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Cambridge University Press (CUP) in Journal of Social Policy
- Vol. 23 (2), 195-217
- https://doi.org/10.1017/s0047279400021620
Abstract
The distribution of clean syringes to intravenous drug users has been accepted by many European countries as a necessary measure to prevent the spread of HIV. In Sweden however an official report recommending the widespread adoption of syringe exchange schemes was rejected after considerable debate in the press, at public meetings, in parliament and government. The medical consensus in favour of syringe exchange schemes was rejected by a much wider consensus of drug agency workers, militant pressure groups and the political establishment. It was felt that syringe exchange schemes would not only condone drug misuse but encourage it. The success of the restrictive line in this debate can only partially be explained through a pluralistic analysis of the principal actors involved. To understand why drug misuse in Sweden has come to symbolise a much greater threat to social stability and national values, a deeper analysis of Swedish institutions and culture is required.Keywords
This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Syringe Exchange for Prevention of HIV Infection in Sweden: Practical Experiences and Community ReactionsInternational Journal of the Addictions, 1991
- Cleaning the People's Home: recent developments in Sweden's addiction policyBritish Journal of Addiction, 1989