Retreat or Entrenchment? Drug Policies in the Nordic Countries at a Crossroads

The drug policies of the Nordic countries have been relatively strict. Since this seems to contradict the internationally recognized liberal criminal policy in general, analyses have been devoted to try to understand this gap. Why doesn’t the “Scandinavian exceptionalism” apply to the drug policies? The new question in relation to drug policy is, however, if and how the Nordic countries will adapt to a situation when several countries all over the world are questioning ‘the war on drugs’ and orienting themselves in the direction of decriminalization and legalization. An analysis of a possible change in drug policies must be undertaken against the background of the existing policies. There are both similarities and differences between the five countries. A common feature is a stress on the demand side through both treatment and punishments directed against the user and abuser. Differences are shown in degrees of toughness in drug policies with Sweden strongest stressing a zero-tolerance stand and Denmark being the most liberal in the Nordic context. The strong welfare state ideology of all the countries is important for understanding the obstacles to a more liberal and permissive drug policy. The welfare state is an interventionist state. To not do anything about what is considered to be a problem both for the individual and the society is just not an option. In most of the countries the traditions from the temperance movements also have influenced the drug policies through the stepping-stone or gateway theory, not making a distinction between soft and hard drugs. At the same time, a number of facts and processes work in the direction of change. The drug policies of the countries have not delivered, including high numbers of drug-related deaths. The debate has opened up in just a short period of time. Many of the political youth parties demand decriminalisation of use of drugs and so have some public authorities. Human rights arguments are increasingly being put forward as a critique of police interventions. A tendency for politicians to meet the critique seems to be to separate the marginal abuser from the recreational user. The first one should be given treatment and care according to welfare state ideology. The second one, however, could be punished since the user in line with neo-liberal theory can choose and by the use contributes to the drug trade and even the killings in poor suburbs. The Nordic countries stand at a crossroads, but what new roads will be taken is far from clear.

Alcohol

This chapter begins with a discussion on alcohol, its uses, and its effects, both positive and negative, followed by a review of the recent research on its cumulative effects on health. The history of alcohol as a public health issue is also briefly reviewed. The temperance movements of the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries sought to prohibit alcohol altogether, but by the 1930s the alternative of controlling alcohol sales to limit its adverse effects was the dominant aim. As these controls weakened after the 1950s, a ‘new public health’ approach argued for stronger controls. Although this approach gained ground among researchers from the 1970s onwards, it has often been resisted in the policy process. Seven main strategies to prevent or control alcohol problems are described, and their effectiveness briefly assessed. The chapter concludes with an account of alcohol policy in a globalizing world. An international convention on alcohol control has been called for to counter the influence of trade agreements and the globalization of alcohol production, distribution, and promotion.

THE SUBJECTIVITY OF THE REHABILITANT’S PERSONALITY AS CONCEIVED BY TEMPERANCE MOVEMENTS

The article presents a comparative analysis of the ideas about the subjectivity of the rehabilitant’s personality in terms of approaches to the treatment of alcoholism used by various temperance movements. Following the definition offered by R.M. Voitenko, the authors use the term «rehabilitant» to denote the an aid recipient in the rehabilitation process. The article compares how the subjectivity of a person undergoing rehabilitation is perceived in traditional narcology, in Alcoholics Anonymous, in the Union of Approval and Preservation of Sobriety «Sober Ural» (Shichko’s methodology), and in the People’s Sobriety Organization of the Sverdlovsk region (Sverdlovsk diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church). The research focuses on the concept of «subjectivity». A hypothesis is formulated that the conceptual attitude towards a rehabilitant embedded in the paradigm of a particular treatment method directly affects the success of therapy. The hypothesis is based on the socio-philosophical uncertainty that arose around the discussion on the influence of the rehabilitant’s personality and the influence of medicine taken by the rehabilitant during the illness and treatment for alcoholism. The authors draw attention to the problem that the traditional narcological approach causes desubjectification of rehabilitants, which leads to a decrease in the treatment success. At the same time, the practical activities of various temperance movements are also differentiated depending on the paradigm of the rehabilitant’s subjectivity laid down at the ideological level. Using comparative analysis, the authors come to a conclusion that the ideology of some temperance movements is based on the rejection of the rehabilitant’s personal subjectivity in order to form, to a certain extent, the subjectivity of a group, a collective. The theoretical possibility of forming a collective subject allows a new view of the criteria for assessing the effectiveness of addiction treatment and represents a methodological «bridge» to explain the phenomenon of the territories of sobriety.

Rosa Sonneschein’s Fin-the-Siècle Fiction: The Clashing Worlds of Zionism, Reform Judaism, Feminism and Conformity

Rosa Sonneschein (1847–1932) was an important figure in late nineteenth-century American journalism, activism, and fiction. While a few brief studies were dedicated to her biography and to her role as a Jewish social activist, editor, and contributor to The American Jewess, no critical work has been devoted as yet to her literary production. The aim of this essay is to rectify this critical neglect by examining Sonneschein’s wide literary opus and by investigating its connection, if any, to the views she expressed as a journalist and a public speaker. This essay will explore Sonneschein’s threefold literary oeuvre, consisting of the following genres: Jewish fiction, non-Jewish fiction, and literary sketches. It will also try to explicate Rosa’s often conflicting stance with regard to Judaism, feminism, and Zionism, a standpoint which should be examined in the context of the fin-the-siècle’s turbulent changes American society had to cope with, especially pertaining to massive immigration, religious and social reforms, suffrage and temperance movements, etc.

A Temperate Province? Evidence from Lower Canadian General Store Account Books, 1830-1857

Alcoholic consumption was unproblematic and supposedly widespread in the Canadas in the early years of the nineteenth century, until temperance movements sought to eradicate it through moral suasion, shaming and regulations in the second quarter of the century. In Lower Canada, the 1849-1850 temperance crusade spearheaded by father Chiniquy, with the support of religious and lay authorities would have led to a rapid collapse in the importation, production and sale of alcohol and the closing of numerous taverns. Evidence from country general store account books suggest that Lower Canadians were already moderate drinkers at the beginning of the century and that their consumption was already declining before Chiniquy launched his crusade, and his success would have been due to minds already half made. On the other hand, the availability of other stimulant beverages, such as coffee or tea does not seem to have played a role.

Feminism and Suffragism

Originating from the French word féminisme, feminism’s first appearance in 1837 is attributed to the social theorist Charles Fourier (1772–1837). Denoting a principle that argues for the rights of women and the equality of the sexes, it grew increasingly popular as a term in the second half of the 19th century, and first appeared in the Oxford Dictionary of English in 1895. As a reform movement with a network of activists comprising both sexes across the Americas and Europe, the championing of political, financial, and social equality for women had its roots in abolitionist and temperance movements of the early 19th century. Roughly divided into three waves, the first began in the mid-1800s and peaked in the United States and Europe between 1890 and 1920. The second took place from the late 1960s to the 1980s, and was followed by a third in the mid-1990s.

Finding the Cause (1881–1889)

This chapter describes events in the life of Anna Howard Shaw from 1881 to 1889. Over the course of the 1880s Shaw willingly gave up the comfortable but limited life of a small town minister to dedicate herself to changing the inequalities of the social structure in ways that she believed would better women's lives more than any work she could do as a minister. Fortunately for Shaw, she turned out to have many of the talents, skills, and attributes that the leaders and the constituencies of the woman suffrage and women's temperance movements needed and valued. By 1888, Shaw would state that, “I have registered a vow that I will from this time forth never work for any political party, never give one dollar to any religious body, home or foreign, never listen Sunday after Sunday to the preaching of any man, never give one ounce of my strength of body or purse, or mind, or heart to any cause which opposes the best interest of women. ” Fortunately, Shaw achieved the independence to make those decisions.

Use of research in local alcohol policy-making

Purpose – On-premise trading hours are generally decided at the local level. The purpose of this paper is to identify relevant advocacy coalitions and to assess to what extent and how these coalitions used research in the alcohol policy-making process concerning changes in on-premise trading hours in Norway. Design/methodology/approach – Theory-driven content analyses were conducted, applying data from city council documents (24 Norwegian cities) and Norwegian newspaper articles and broadcast interviews (n=138) in 2011-2012. Findings – Two advocacy coalitions with conflicting views and values were identified. Both coalitions used research quite extensively – in the public debate and in the formal decision-making process – but in different ways. The restrictive coalition, favouring restricted trading hours and emphasising public health/safety, included the police and temperance movements and embraced research demonstrating the beneficial health/safety effects of restricting trading hours. The liberal coalition of conservative politicians and hospitality industry emphasised individual freedom and industry interests and promoted research demonstrating negative effects on hospitality industry turnover. This coalition also actively discredited the research demonstrating the beneficial health/safety effects of restricting trading hours. Originality/value – Little is known about how local alcohol policy-making processes are informed by research-based knowledge. This study is the first to analyse how advocacy coalitions use research to influence local alcohol policy-making.