MEP Sara Skyttedal (KD) has reconsidered her view on drugs and wants to legalize cannabis and decriminalize the use of drugs for personal use.
In SVT's 30 minutes, Skyttedal mentions that several countries in Europe have a more liberal view of cannabis use and are about to change their legislation.
- It will of course affect attitudes and norms in our society as well and then I think that we as legislators need to be one step ahead, she says in the program.
Has used cannabis
Skyttedal has smoked cannabis herself during her time as a member of the European Parliament in countries that have different legislation than the Swedish one, which she previously told about in an interview with ETC.
In the same interview, she also mentioned how partially narcotic drugs help her get out of depression.
For 30 minutes, she says she has used cannabis on a handful of private occasions related to her health.
Using cannabis is not legal in Sweden and in response to the question how she, as an active politician, reasons about this, Skyttedal answers:
- I have had my personal reasons why it has happened on a number of occasions.
I also have a great understanding that voters react, even though I have done it in countries where there has been a different legal situation than it does in Sweden.
Basically, I don't think I'm the one to pass judgment on myself.
"Legislation not effective"
According to Social Affairs Minister Jakob Forssmed (KD), the government has no plans to decriminalize own use of drugs, but Sara Skyttedal disagrees.
- I draw a different conclusion from what decriminalization would entail, when it comes to reducing the harmful effects and reducing the mortality from drugs where we have the highest in the EU.
It cannot be said that the legislation that has been allowed to prevail for several years is effective and successful when we are the worst in the whole of Europe, says Skyttedal.
Watch the full 30 minutes here.