Press release May 19, 1998

THE SWEDISH QUEEN DISSOCIATES HERSELF FROM THOSE FORCES THAT WANT TO MAKE NARCOTIC DRUGS AN ACCEPTED PRODUCT FOR EVERYDAY USE.

Her Majesty the Queen of Sweden gave the opening speech at the Hassela Nordic Network´s annual conference which took place last weekend.

The following is the full text of the opening speech.

"There is a determined stance against drugs in our country. Advocates of a liberal drug policy in other parts of the world often use Sweden as a negative reference. Swedish representatives are regarded as the most persistent opponents to efforts to make narcotic drugs a respectable part of society.

Personally I am very proud of this. The fact that so many Swedish citizens uncompromisingly reject narcotic drugs constitutes the sound base for our relative successes so far.

I want to contribute to the strengthening of this base. That is why I have chosen to publicly and strongly commit myself to the fight against drugs.

In doing so I want to influence everybody who is listening. As fellow human beings and as parents it is not enough for us to completely hand over these important questions to the experts and the professional debaters. We must all become visible to make it possible for our society to be strong enough to continue to maintain the necessary, strict stance on drug-related matters.

I mentioned relative successes. Of course, we are not completely unaffected by what is happening in the surrounding world. Since 1989, the number of students in the 9^th grade in Stockholm, who tried narcotic drugs, doubled. In certain areas, e.g. Stockholm, the numbers are even higher.

This is most worrying. As parents we may choose to interpret these statistics as temporary changes in a course of events that we cannot influence. But if we choose to do that, we must also accept the responsibility for the talks that we did not have with our children and also accept the responsibility for not having said no in time.

The advocates of liberalisation, or even legalisation, of drugs claim that, above all, it is a question of freedom. The possibility to get intoxicated gives an opportunity to escape reality. But it also makes the fight for the common good, personal well-being and the positive development of children and families a secondary issue. Instead of tackling everyday problems in a constructive way, people choose to get away from them through intoxication.

To me, that does not mean freedom. Hence, we must all cooperate to counteract those forces that want to make narcotic drugs an accepted product for everyday use. We must all join the fight against the illicit use of narcotic drugs. However, it is important to remember that we are fighting a phenomenon, not individuals. Let us not condemn individuals and thereby weaken the strength in our dissociation from drugs.

We should use our valuable tradition to conduct talks and pursue our fight against the scourge of drugs from a humane perspective.
(Ed. note: Clearly Her Majesty would have a difficult time justifying the means that are being used to her ends in America, unless her definition of "freedom" includes life in prison. In fact, Sweden does not have long prison sentences as a part of its prohibitionist policy.)

We have nothing to fear as long as we are convinced that we are doing the right thing and that our actions are serving a humane purpose."