It's obvious that it's an election year. Lots of politics and politicians in place. A record year with nearly 3200 program items and 1900 organizers. The influx of visitors feels like before the pandemic and after 2022 when psychiatric coordinator Ing-Marie Wieselgren was murdered on an open street in Almedalen. The artwork "Listening" in memory of her stands firmly anchored in the ground.
As a nurse with an interest in the tobacco/nicotine issue, it was easy to use keywords in the program to find events on the topic led by non-profit organizations as well as academia. The tobacco and snus industry was well represented and drummed its message into the alleys of Visby.
The District Nurses' Association raised the issue of collaboration to prevent crime among children and young people. A roundtable discussion with social services, schools and the police, among others. The unanimous assessment was that society has failed to protect and that more adults around the children is a necessary measure. The police called for preventive measures as they come in late in the process.
The nicotine is forgotten
U-FOLD at Uppsala University, which works to strengthen society's efforts against pharmaceutical and drug addiction, offered several interesting topics.
The seminar entitled “New drugs faster than the law – time for family classification?” described that small chemical changes are made to banned drugs. While they are being reviewed by the authorities, they can continue to be sold. A proposal to ban groups of chemically similar substances, as several European countries have introduced, so-called generic classification, could be a solution.
The comorbidity reform is currently underway, it is intended to bridge the care for people with harmful use and addiction and other psychiatric conditions. A bill proposing a new law for unified care has been decided by the government.
One reflection, which led to a question, was why nicotine was not mentioned in the presentations. A highly addictive drug that has become epidemically widespread among young adults. Did the moderator sense an embarrassing reminder? Confirmation was given of the seriousness of this and that action must be taken. The member of the Social Affairs Committee agreed and was willing to contribute to a change.
Almedalen wants to be a place for dialogue and conversation where different voices and perspectives can be heard. This was not the case at the tobacco industry event. Invited panelists had the last word and the meetings ended hastily and resolutely without the opportunity for follow-up questions.
Distressing youth perspective
It was distressing to hear some of the representatives of the political youth parties defending the popularity of white snus. It was claimed that white snus was harmless, that individual freedom to choose to smoke was inviolable, and that snus should be tax-exempt for its contribution to public health. Rarely has so much ignorance, untruths, and unfounded claims been put forward unchallenged!
Swedish Match's theme was Swedish innovation with the potential to create a worldwide export industry. Last year's export of 6 billion nicotine portions was said to have led to smoke-free societies. A clear concern became apparent that the EU was hindering this development through taxes and regulations. The panel was movingly unanimous until the last speaker, a politician who probably surprised the organizers. If smokers are the target group, spreading to other groups cannot be defended, he said. And he conveyed a sharp warning against criticizing the stance of other countries, which has led to Sweden being seen as the EU's black sheep. He said that this could easily backfire and jeopardize our exemption for snus in future regulations. The CEO's leading speech was significantly muted after the speech.
A famous mingle is Norwegian hotel magnate Petter Stordalen's recurring event during Almedalen Week. In front of 1500 invited guests, he not only offers food and drinks but also a speech show on stage, this year followed by the tunes of Medina. A tradition that ended the week.
/Reflections by Ann Post, Head of Tobacco Facts
