Swedish high school students high on cocaine during school hours

STOCKHOLM - Police in Sweden's second largest city of Gothenburg say they are finding high school students high on cocaine and amphetamines during school hours, Swedish news SVT reported on Tuesday. 

 

After a year of specially-directed police actions carried out at high schools across the city, police have found students under the influence of strong narcotics such as amphetamine, cocaine and the prescription opioid tramadol. 

"That this cocktail of drugs is found in secondary schools is a huge failure for Sweden," Robin Nilsson, head of the Gothenburg police unit specializing in drug trafficking, told SVT. 

Every six weeks over the last year, Nilsson and his team have carried out special actions at high schools. Using observations from these actions, together with information from anonymous student drug habit surveys, the social service and school principals, the police conclude that students are using heavier drugs at school than previously. 

According to SVT, students often name stress as a factor, saying that they feel pressured to get good grades in school. 

Nilsson was dismissive of student's reasons for using illegal drugs at school, arguing that the increase in street violence seen across Sweden's major cities is a consequence of the escalation in illegal drug sales.

"It is millions of kronor in revenue for certain criminal networks. When one notices that someone is trying to get a piece of the cake, one is capable of using serious force to assert their business territory, and we can see that with shootings and explosions in all major cities in Sweden," Nilsson told SVT."

"We need better legislation, we need to be better at collaborating with other authorities, we need to be faster with earlier efforts when it comes to young people," said Nilsson. 




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