To illustrate this point I have inserted the Swedish words in parentheses. The English language is rich, which makes the poverty of our discourse all the more shameful. The distinction between misuse and abuse is perhaps one of degree, but it has a qualitatively different political impact. It is puzzling to me that people whose lives center around words would be so indifferent to their misuse. Drug abuse has played a major role in the control policy debate and has had great effect upon criminal statistics and criminal policy.
Narcotics are also the most common reason given for intensifying police co-operation in Europe.
Forms Of Abuse In Sweden Characteristic of heavy drug abuse in Sweden is the large scale injection of amphetamine that began amongst Swedish abusers. This is in contrast to other countries where heroin became the dominant drug of heavy abuse. Amphetamine differs from heroin in that it is a stimulating and activating drug and not numbing and sleep inducing. Another difference is that heroin, but not amphetamine, cause strong withdrawal symptoms. This has the effect of making heroin more dominant in the lifestyles of its abusers as they need maintenance doses approximately every four hours.