Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

Focus group interviews were carried out in different parts of Sweden with young men and women aged about 20 from different social groups. The groups were selected from naturally existing networks of friends. Considering that the consumption of alcohol has increased strongly in this age group over recent years, the purpose was to get a notion of how the young people are reasoning in an everyday fashion about alcohol. In this study, it is shown how in the form of narratives they tell about their own experiences of having drunk too much at times. The value system at the background of these narratives is examined with the aid of the accounts given of why drinking became excessive and how the narrators explain and excuse what happened.

The moral emerging from the accounts is that in our culture he/she who drinks too much risks to be questioned in moral terms. At the same time, the acceptance by listeners of the accounts shows which reasons are considered acceptable for excessive drinking and on what grounds such a conduct may meet with understanding and instead be regarded as an involuntary and reasonable response to outer pressure or to other circumstances beyond the narrator's control.

For a century Finnish and Swedish regulation of alcohol production and trade was a concern of the state, aiming to minimise private profit from alcohol sales. In the 1990's both national and local alcohol policy were reshaped in both countries. This was due to influences from international trade and reorganisations in managing the nation state.

The focus of this article is, first, on how the central public administrations in Finland and Sweden reacted to the new situation. New administrative practices and the political status of new policy documents are of particular interest. Second, the text analyses the guiding principles behind the activities set out in recent alcohol policy programmes in each country.

The results of the study show that

- in reshaping alcohol policy Finland has been more favourable to international influences than Sweden. This was true with regard to the EU negotiations in the first half of the 1990's, but is also clearly reflected in national alcohol policy programmes developed after the introduction of the new alcohol legislations (1995). In the latter case Finland has leaned heavily on the European Alcohol Action Plan put forth by the World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe.

- the size of government report on alcohol policy have shrunk in Finland. After 1989 the justifications of national policy have not been thoroughly stated. In this case, Sweden has acted very differently.

- in Finland parliamentary based state committees have been replaced by working groups run by state officials. In Sweden committees are still appreciated, but in addition to their preparatory tasks they are given an operative mandate.

- in Finland alcohol policy is given only modest political status within the state administration. In Sweden alcohol policy issues are usually submitted to the government and/or the parliament.

- for the moment Sweden is resolutely opting for an alcohol policy strategy based on professionalised “prevention coordinators”. In Finland the strategy is still under consideration.

The reaction to the break from a long-standing alcohol policy tradition has taken somewhat different routes in Finland and Sweden. Neither of the countries draws on the “Nordic alcohol policy” anymore. Rather they are choosing different policy practices.