2. 3 Different positions
While this chapter is a broad overview of developments of the
international control system, a brief comparison of the stances in both
countries in this process might be useful for further reading. It reflects
the different experiences in the control of narcotic substances.
A difference is the position and interests of the pharmacological
industries in the international trade in narcotic substances. The fact that
the Netherlands until the Second World War only reluctantly
participated in establishing international control on narcotic drugs can
be explained by several factors. First, there were large economic
interests to protect. The Netherlands was a producing and trading nation
in substances that were subject to international treaties. Secondly,
domestic drug use was not defined as a social problem. A third
explanation is given by de Kort: "The Dutch experiences with the
opium licensing system had taught that the state could never prohibit
smuggling as long as a demand for drugs existed" (de Kort 1995: 155).
This means that Sweden, far from important as a producer country of
drugs, was in a different position from the Netherlands when it
participated in efforts to establish an international control system to
regulate production of and trade in drugs. Consequently, the country did
not play any important role in the first generation of the international
control system of drugs. Furthermore, it did not have the same
experience of combating drug trafficking as the Dutch did.
In the 1960s Sweden would become one of the driving forces in
establishing international control of synthetic drugs like amphetamines.
It had become an important actor in the arena of the international
control system.