Given the strong focus on minor drug offenses in Swedish drug control policy and the risk of disparate drug enforcement that may follow from such policies, this thesis explores drug enforcement and the use of coercive measures (enforced drug tests and body searches) towards youths aged 15-20 years. The first study focuses on the circumstances of the detection of minor drug offenses, the grounds for suspicion and use of coercive measures. The second study explores ethnic disparities in exposure to drug tests, as well as ethnic disparities in relation to hitrates for drug tests and body searches. The results show that about one-third of the minor drug situations were detected in a reactive policing manner, and approximately 30-40 percent were detected in association with other offenses. The findings suggest that the grounds for enforcing drug tests and body searches often were based on subjective cues. Results from the second study show that youths subjected to a drug test were male, born outside Europe, and had unemployed fathers to a significantly greater extent than the drug-using youths in the school survey. Additionally, youths born outside Europe were more likely than youths born in Sweden to be submitted to coercive measures that produced a negative result. This finding was dependent on the definition of ethnic background that was employed. The findings suggest that future research should investigate a number of pre- and post-stop conditions and outcomes. Research on pre-stop conditions should further explore: 1) the distribution of "criminal" signs between different sociodemographic groups and their probability for a hit, 2) the importance of concurrent offending for the detection of drug offenses, and 3) the nature of drug use, transactions, and dealing in association with the risk for suspicion. Research on post-stop conditions and outcomes should explore: 1) ethnic disparities in hitrates of body searches and drug tests with more detailed data on ethnic background (specific region-based vulnerabilities), and 2) neighborhood effects on searches and drug tests, including hit-rates, both on an individual level and a neighborhood level. Research on various forms of police bias in drug enforcement should integrate both neighborhood- and individual-level processes in relation to pre-stop and post-stop conditions and outcomes to understand the mechanisms behind ethnic disparities. Finally, future research should focus on the "gender gap" found in this study and previous studies on drug enforcement.

The aim of this article is to explore the circumstances associated with police interventions and the use of enforced drug tests and body searches against youths suspected of minor drug crime in Malmo, Sweden. There is a need for research on police enforcement practices directed at young people as a result of an increased use of coercive measures against youth and young adults suspected of minor drug offences in Sweden. The research questions are addressed on the basis of police documentation covering a period of one year. Approximately 67% of police interventions involved car-stops or police responses to calls for service. The documented grounds for the use of enforced drug tests are of a subjective nature, and detail signs of intoxication. Body searches were less often documented, and provided little insight into suspicion formation. 82% of the drug tests produced positive results for illicit substances. The results highlight the need to evaluate the utility and practice of body searches and enforced drug testing focused on youth.

How is cannabis use controlled in the legal systems in the Nordic countries? How do the Nordic legal systems see cannabis as a drug, and how does this affect the cannabis user? The Nordic Welfare Centre´s new report Cannabis policy and legislation in the Nordic countries looks at the similarities and differences in legislation and the ways in which the law is enacted in legal practice, police work, and other arenas.

After alcohol, cannabis is the second most common intoxicant in the Nordics and cannabis use is increasing among young adults in most Nordic countries. It is therefore not insignificant how society views cannabis use: is it a social problem, a health problem, or a problem of law and order? The answer matters a great deal to the user. Increasing use will put pressure on the societal responses although the majority of cannabis users are not problem users in need of treatment.

I Malmö bor cirka 330 000 människor. Hälften av invånarna i Malmö är under 35 år och en femtedel är under 18 år. I utställningen Space & Place kan du ta del av hur två forskargrupper undersöker barns och ungas relation till några av stadens rum. Utställningen belyser metoder i forskningsprocessen.Projekten utgår från barns och ungas upplevelser av sin närmiljö. Forskningen är exempel på hur Malmö högskola bidrar till ett socialt hållbart Malmö.

The city of Malmö inhabits about 330,000 people. Half of them are under 35 years and one fifth is under 18 years old. In Space & Place two research groups present how children and adolescents experience some of the urban spaces in Malmö. The exhibition highlights different methods in the research process. These research projects are examples of how Malmö University contributes to a socially sustainable Malmö.

Ethnic disparities in drug law enforcement have been noted in several previous studies investigating arrest rates, search rates, and hit-rates. Evidence also suggests that ethnic disparities tend to increase with restrictive drug law enforcement that focuses on minor drug offenses. The Swedish drug policy has a strong focus on drug use and possession offenses, where the enforcement of those offenses has increased over time. The targeted population is decreasing in age. Using police data on the success rates of enforced drug tests and body searches associated with suspicion of drug offenses among youth, this study explores both ethnic differences in exposure to enforced drug tests and ethnic disparities in the hit rates of drug tests and body searches among youth aged 15-20. The results suggest that youth exposed to enforced drug tests are more likely to be born outside Europe, be male, and have unemployed fathers. Results from the hit-rate test show that youth born outside Europe are more likely than youth born in Sweden to be body searched and drug tested with a negative result when controls are included for socioeconomic status, gender, repeat drug offending, and neighborhood drug crime characteristics. The results are discussed in the light of previous research and theoretical approaches to ethnic disparities in drug enforcement