Illegal drugs are cheaper than ever in Sweden, patients forced to travel some 100 kilometres after hospital closes, and will more people than ever get married in Sweden this year? Here’s the latest news.
Illegal drugs are cheaper than ever in Sweden, patients forced to travel some 100 kilometres after hospital closes, and will more people than ever get married in Sweden this year? Here’s the latest news.
Illegal drugs are cheaper than ever in Sweden, patients forced to travel some 100 kilometres after hospital closes, and will more people than ever get married in Sweden this year? Here’s the latest news.
It’s cheaper than ever before to get hold of narcotics in Sweden
Illegal drugs are getting cheaper in Sweden, according to a new report by the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs (CAN). In fact, some of them are cheaper than they’ve ever been – bucking the trend when compared to the rising food prices.
“Coffee and everything else has got more expensive, but narcotics have held steady,” CAN’s Ulf Guttormsson told the TT newswire.
Street prices of amphetamine and heroin are currently a fifth of what they were in the 1980s, if real prices are taken into account (adjusted for inflation). Amphetamine cost 200 kronor per gram in 2024. Cocaine has meanwhile dropped by half, and although the price of cannabis is less consistent (likely due to increases in purity, according to the report), price decreases can be seen for cannabis too.
“Since 2020, a number of events have occurred that could potentially have increased street prices,” reads the report, listing for example pandemic travel restrictions, the rate of inflation, the low Swedish krona, criminal conflicts and police stepping up their work.
But those events don’t appear to have affected the price of drugs.
One of the reasons could be lower wholesaler prices, which have fallen by a third since 2019 if inflation is taken into account, and higher competition with plenty of sellers available.
If you’re struggling with drug abuse, google beroendecentrum and the name of your city for help.
Swedish vocabulary: drugs – droger or knark (note that legal pharmaceutical drugs are usually called medicin in Swedish)
Will more people than ever get married in Sweden in 2025?
A record number of people are expected to get married this year, a new press release from the Tax Agency (Skatteverket) suggests.
The number of applications for a so-called hindersprövning – a document which shows there are no impediments to the marriage, such as the couple being closely related, underage or already married to other people – have been on a steady increase in the past few months.
In March, the Tax Agency received more than 6,000 applications for a hindersprövning, which is the highest figure for the month of March since 2022.
“This year could be a record year in terms of the number of hindersprövningar. More people than before have had hindersprövningar in January, February and March this year,” said Tax Agency officer Vjera Catovic in the press statement.
The processing time is around two weeks, but the Tax Agency urges anyone planning to get married this summer to apply for hindersprövning now. The document is valid for up to four months.
Swedish vocabulary: to marry – att gifta sig
Patients to travel 100 kilometres after northern Swedish hospital closes
After years of heated debate, regional councillors on Monday voted to close down large parts of Sollefteå Hospital in northern Sweden.
A total of 146 jobs will be cut as a result, and the region hopes to save 46 million kronor, reports regional public radio P4 Västerbotten.
Almost all surgical operations will be moved as the hospital will shift its focus to caring for elderly people with multiple illnesses.
For all other hospital care, including emergency care, patients will have to travel to Örnsköldsvik (a journey of almost 100 kilometres if you live in Sollefteå – if you live in the opposite direction it’s far more than that) or Sundsvall (120 kilometres), reports public broadcaster SVT.
The cuts are set to start this year and be completed by 2027.
Swedish vocabulary: a hospital – ett sjukhus
Three suspects remanded in custody over triple shooting
A 20-year-old man has been remanded in custody in Sweden, suspected of a triple shooting last week, along with two suspected accomplices, a prosecutor said Monday.
Three young men aged 15 to 20 were killed on April 29th in broad daylight at a hair salon in central Uppsala, a university town north of the capital, Stockholm.
“One person has been remanded in custody… suspected of murder in three cases,” prosecutor Andreas Nyberg told AFP.
Two other people, a 20-year-old man and a person under the age of 18, have also been remanded in custody on suspicion of “aiding and abetting”, the prosecutor said. (AFP/The Local)
Swedish vocabulary: to remand in custody – att häkta
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