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Finnish attitudes towards drugs and drug policies – opinions and outlooks among the population in 2002Aim To describe what Finns think about drugs and drug policies.Method The information is based on a posted questionnaire sent out by Statistics Finland in the Autumn of 2002. A representative sample was randomly chosen from a target group consisting of 15–69 year-old Finns (N= 4 053). The response rate was 63 per cent. The comparative material comprises studies from 1992, 1996 and 1998.Results The worry over the drug problem has continuously increased among Finns. The views of the respondents concerning health risks associated with drugs varied according to age. The attitude towards heroin is, however, extremely negative in all age groups. The Finns stand firmly behind the current drug policies, and consequently the legalisation of drugs receives scant support. The new powers that have been granted to the police receive near unanimous support. Policies aimed at harm reduction such as substitution treatment for drug addicts, and the exchange of needles and syringes are also seen as legitimate measures. School is the most important source of information for the younger respondents, while the older respondents receive their information from the media.Conclusions The development of attitudes has become differentiated. Attitudes towards smoking and heavy drinking have become harder, while the attitudes towards cannabis have softened somewhat. Unlike in Great Britain where the attitude towards cannabis has become more liberal in all age groups, this change has remained a generational phenomenon in Finland, limited to those age groups who were born in the 1970s and 1980s.

The article presents some results of a comparative Nordic drug survey that was carried out in Finland and Norway in spring 1993, in Denmark in early 1994 and in Sweden in early 1995. The focus in this article is on the prevalence of cannabis use and on public attitudes towards cannabis.The lifetime prevalence of cannabis use was clearly highest in Denmark (30.1 %). The other Nordic countries, Sweden (11.4 %), Norway (8.3 %) and Finland (7.3 %) were way behind Denmark. However, the six-month prevalence figures, which provide a more accurate description of current drug use, were about ten times lower than the lifetime prevalence figures in each country. Thus, for the most part, cannabis use in the general population was restricted to short-term experimentation. Danish people reported knowing drug users among their friends and acquaintances more often than respondents in other countries.Not surprisingly, attitudes towards cannabis were most liberal in Denmark. Attitudes in Finland, Norway and Sweden were fairly similar to each other, although it may be noted that attitudes in Sweden were consistently the strictest of all. In addition to the national differences, the article shows that attitudes towards cannabis varied according to personal experiences with cannabis and cannabis users. Those who had never experimented with cannabis and had no friends or acquaintances who used drugs reported the most negative attitudes towards cannabis.