INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Scenesetter for White House Ondcp Director R. Gil

Published: Fri 4 Dec 2009 02:38 PM
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OO RUEHIK
DE RUEHSM #0759/01 3381438
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 041438Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM
TO RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN IMMEDIATE 3219
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHEHAAA/THE WHITE HOUSE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4964
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 STOCKHOLM 000759
SIPDIS
WHSR PLS PASS TO ONDCP CHRISTINE KOURTIDES
COPENHAGEN FOR DEA MORAN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SNAR PREL PTER AF SW
SUBJECT: SCENESETTER FOR WHITE HOUSE ONDCP DIRECTOR R. GIL
KERLIKOWSKE VISIT TO STOCKHOLM, DECEMBER 7-10
STOCKHOLM 00000759 001.2 OF 002
Introduction
-------------
1. (U) Embassy Stockholm warmly welcomes you to Sweden. Your
visit provides an opportunity to further cement close and
collaborative bilateral relations with a nation and a
government whose outlook on key international issues closely
matches ours. For example, Sweden's foreign and defense
ministers both fully endorsed the President's recent speech
on Afghanistan and Pakistan, and Sweden contributes to both
the military mission (with 500 troops) and the civilian
assistance effort (especially in rule of law, health and
education). You may wish to highlight these contributions in
your meetings here and in any possible media event; note the
direct connection between Afghan poppy fields and drugs on
the streets of Sweden; and express your appreciation that
Swedish forces in ISAF are helping to prevent the scourge of
heroin use in Europe.
2. (U) Sweden's government is led by a four-party
center-right coalition that, in 2006, unseated the Social
Democrats who had governed Sweden for most of the 20th
century. The new government embarked on an ambitious economic
reform aimed at increasing employment, reducing welfare
dependence, and streamlining the state's role in the economy.
The economy slid into recession in 2008 as a result of
deteriorating global conditions -- considerably restricting
the scope of the government to press on with its reform
program. Jockeying is in full swing for the next
parliamentary election taking place in 2010, with the
governing coalition head-to-head with the Social Democrats in
the polls. The focus in the upcoming campaign will remain on
economic and job issues, although immigration will also be on
the docket. Sweden also holds the EU Presidency until the
end of 2009, and has focused on climate change and ushering
in the Lisbon Treaty to streamline EU decision-making and
increase the EU,s international clout. As the head of the
EU, Sweden has acted as a useful interlocutor on many Justice
and Home Affairs issues, including combating transnational
crime, cybercrime, and terrorism.
DRUGS IN SWEDEN
---------------
3. (U) Sweden is not a significant illicit drug producing
country. However, it is increasingly becoming a transit
country for illegal drugs from South America, West Africa,
Eastern Europe, China, and Afghanistan smuggled via other EU
countries to other Nordic countries and Eastern Europe,
according to police reports. Drugs enter the country
concealed in commercial goods, by air, ferry, or truck. The
fight against illegal drugs is an important government
priority and enjoys strong support among a public highly
intolerant of illegal drugs.
4. (U) There are an estimated 26,000 serious drug (heroin,
cocaine) users in Sweden. Amphetamines and cannabis remain
the most popular illegal drugs and the influx of
methamphetamine has been on the rise. Total heroin usage
remained stagnant since 2008 but the abuse of anabolic
steroids continued to rise. The quantity of narcotics
ordered over the internet, such as Mephedrone, GBL, Methylon,
and Salvia, also increased in 2009. About 20 percent of high
school aged boys and girls have claimed to have tried drugs,
mainly cannabis. Limited residential cultivation of cannabis
occurs, along with a limited number of small kitchen labs
producing methamphetamine and anabolic steroids. There are
no reports of any large scale narcotics laboratories in
Sweden. Khat usage remains restricted to specific immigrant
communities.
5. (U) Some 80 percent of cannabis in Sweden comes from
Morocco, the remainder from the Middle East and Central Asia.
Most seized amphetamines originate in Poland, Netherlands,
and the Baltic countries. Cocaine originates in South America
and is smuggled through major European ports, and then by
land or air. South American smugglers and dealers have long
dominated the cocaine trade, however, competition form other
criminal groups, such as Serbians and Russians, has lead to a
price decrease. In 2000, one gram of cocaine cost the
equivalent of $200, today the price is as low as $55-$120 in
Stockholm and $110-$140 in southern Sweden.
6. (U) Heroin is mainly of Afghan origin and individuals from
Serbia or Kosovo dominate the distribution networks of Afghan
heroin, most often called "brown heroin." Opium, although
STOCKHOLM 00000759 002.2 OF 002
not a significant source of addiction in Sweden, also
originates mainly from Afghanistan and surrounding countries.
It is usually smuggled to Sweden from Iran via persons on
airplanes. Opium smuggling and distribution networks are
almost exclusively controlled by individuals with Iranian or
Middle Eastern origin. On a separate note, several Members
of Parliament recently told us that they have had a hard time
convincing their constituents why Swedish forces should be in
Afghanistan, and they asked us for information on
Afghan-origin heroin in Europe. You may wish to highlight in
your meetings here and in any possible media event the direct
connection between Afghan poppy field and drugs on the
streets of Sweden, and express your appreciation that Swedish
forces in ISAF are helping to prevent the scourge of heroin
use in Europe.
SWEDEN'S RESPONSE TO DRUGS
--------------------------
7. (U) The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs has overall
responsibility for Sweden's national drug policy. The main
goal is to achieve a drug-free society by preventing drug
abuse, helping people with substance abuse problems to
recover, and reducing drug supply. The government action
plan on narcotics, supported by a budget of about USD 37
million annually, focuses on prevention, local level
engagement, and EU wide as well as international cooperation.
Priority is given to children, young people, and parents
with special attention given to the school environment.
8. (U) You will be seeing the Youth Chapter at the Stockholm
Police Narcotics Division, which, since 2004, employs a
one-of-a-kind work method in Sweden. The Youth Chapter's
mission is to provide assistance and treatment in conjunction
with arrests and to prevent youth narcotics addiction at an
early stage. This collaborative venture between the police
division and the Ministry of Public Health and Social
Services was recognized this year as the best
crime-prevention project in Sweden and will represent Sweden
in the European Crime Prevention Network contest in December.
WHO IS MARIA LARSSON?
--------------------
9. (U) You will also be meeting with Maria Larsson who, as
the Minister for Elderly Care and Public Health, is
responsible for public health, disability issues, social, and
elderly services. As such, she is responsible for Sweden's
national policy on alcohol, tobacco, narcotics, and doping.
She is a member of the Christian Democratic Party, the
smallest party in the ruling coalition, and is also the
Deputy Chairman of the party since 2003. She has been a
member of the Swedish Parliament since 1998 and has served on
the Parliament's committees on Industry and Trade, Foreign
Affairs, Labor Market and Equality Issues. Larsson began her
political career in 1988 as a local politician in southern
Sweden, her home base. Trained as a schoolteacher, she has
15 year of middle-school teaching experience. The 53
year-old Larsson is married with three children.
BARZUN
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