One evening two years ago, I was going home to my parents after an evening session at work. On the way there, I was met by several police cars and ambulances. I followed. In a parking lot at my old elementary school, two men had been shot dead in a car. According to reports to SVT, the shot men belonged to the criminal group Leioen. The area where I grew up had changed. In the evenings where I went out with the dog, today young people stood and sold drugs on the playground.

"I met a desperate mother on a grief alert"

During my years as a reporter in Rinkeby, I have portrayed the increasing violence with firearms and experienced the frustration of the residents in socially vulnerable areas. On a cold and dark December evening in 2016, two young men were shot dead in a cafe on Rinkeby street. I went there. A group of desperate parents of children in the area had gathered at the site. They told me that they no longer wanted to stay in Rinkeby, but that they could not afford to move.

"We are afraid that the criminals will recruit our children to the drug store when they are on their way home from school and we are at work," said one of them. At that time, there was an open drug trade at the Rinkeby subway.

The shootings just continued. More young people were shot to death.

Last year I met the teenage girls Amanda and Amira in Hässelby. One of them had lost his boyfriend and even their male friends had been murdered. 90 percent of their friends knew someone who had been shot, they said. In the same year, a man was shot to death at a pizzeria in Rinkeby, in the middle of the dinner guests. I met the man's despairing mother on a vigil. Later, a 17-year-old was sentenced for the murder.

The amount of drugs has increased in the Stockholm area

According to the drug police Lennart Karlsson, the amount of drugs has increased in the Stockholm area and much of the violence we see today is driven by the drug market. Customs and police seizures of cannabis, cocaine and amphetamines have more than tripled since the beginning of the 1990s, according to the Central Association for Alcohol and Drug Information (CAN).

Jacob Fraiman, chairman of the Young Crisis (Criminal Revenge in Society) says that more and more are fighting for an attractive drug market. “Today it is a very high price for those fast money. Only if you sell in the wrong area, they may want to cut you. ”

"I wanted to know more about those who sell the drug"

If you search for the word "cannabis" on Netflix, you get suggestions for about 100 movies and series. Drug use seems to have become more and more normalized. "Smoking is very normal, so it's not even anything strange. It is not even seen as a drug, ”a student at Danderyds high school told SVT Stockholm last year.

I wanted to know more about those who meet this demand for drugs, those who sell the drug on our streets. I came in contact with about ten teenagers and young men. Some have left the drug sales, others want to. Common to all of them is that they come from socially vulnerable areas, often with absent parents or abusive parents.

Most people started to "pitch", sell drugs in their early teens and even use drugs themselves. "I also wanted the latest clothes, gold chains and watches that you see in music videos," says one of the guys. They show me some Swedish gangster videos, where artists showcase both weapons and drugs. "Ey, where are they? We shoot when we see them, ”one guy reports.

"There were no weapons in their videos"

When I was a kid, I listened to hip-hop artists like Blues and Ayo, and songs like "Against All Odds" and "Concrete Jungle Book". As far as I can remember, there were no weapons in their videos or any lyrics about shooting anyone.

The people I meet tell how older criminals often attract younger in drug sales. "It can start with offering you a pizza, then they ask you to deliver a package to someone for money, then they ask if you want to start selling," says 15-year-old Kevin.

I also hear that it is becoming more difficult to make money on drugs, as more and more people are selling. Up to 50 young people in a suburb, someone says. Young people without money sell drugs on chalk. If they fail to pay, it can have devastating consequences. “When you beckon you usually end up in big debts. For a char, ie SEK 500 or a salmon, you can be beaten or cut altogether, ”Kevin continues.

We are in a position where parts of the young generation are growing up with deadlines in their everyday lives. If this has happened in the last 15 years - how will the next 15 be?