Amphetamine is today the dominating drug. For various reasons, direct comparisons between the 1979 survey and the present one are difficult to make. The former survey was a total study, whereas the later one is a sample survey. However, all the indications point to a certain rise in the number of drug abusers in Sweden during the past fourteen years. The hopeful sign, though, is that the percentage of young drug users has declined very considerably indeed since 1979.
New recruitment seems to have diminished since then.
The lowest rate of lifetime prevalence was observed in 1989 when the proportion was three percent. Since then there has been a steady slight increase and the lifetime prevalence rate in 1995 was about six percent. What is worrying is that we at the same time can see a slight change in the attitude towards narcotic drugs among young people. I will not go into detail here about all the survey findings, but I am disposed to see the decline in recruitment of new youngsters as proof that the considerable preventive measures taken in Sweden have produced results. I believe that a society with as little use and abuse of psychoactive substances as possible is consistent with improved social development and welfare and increased quality of life of the inhabitants.