5. 3. 1 . The Finnish drug user or taster in the light of res.earch findings
Finnish research on drug tasting and use among young people has been strongly dichotomous. On the one hand the generality of use and user characteristics have been studied by means of survey research, and on the other hand there have been studies of young people taking the cure.
Most survey research has been conducted with school pupils, and thus there is relatively little data about drug use among university students and working youth. In assessing the image that emerges from surveys it should be borne in mind that surveys have usually made no distinction between a taster and a user nor between the users of different drugs.
The following characteristics have been found to describe school students who have tried or used drugs (= user). Users come from all social classes, however such that hashish smoking is most clearly con
nected with the Finnish middle and upper classes (Maatta 1971, Rahikka
la 1973). Users were gang members, who prefer to associate with peers rather than parents, Families exhibited an above-average incidence of divorce and conflict but the majority of users came from so-called ordi
nary families (Maatta 1975a). Survey research has not paid much atten
tion to the users' personality and value system. Bjorkqvist & Jalander (1970) found that users had a somewhat above-average number of diffi
culties. Users did not differ from nonusers with regard to anxiety.
According to Pasanen (1973) users were satisfied with their originality and extraversion but would have preferred to be more stable and ener
getic. Users' attitudes towards the police, church and school were also found to be more critical than those of other young people.
The picture of young people seeking treatment for drug use is con
sistent. In the background we find divorced families and one-parent families dropping out of school, lack of housing, unemployment and a police record. Several young persons have attended some institution (Maatta 1975a). The personality description of the group includes ev
ery domain of pathology (e.g. Louhivuori 1971). It was found that the value system of the g·roup undergoing treatment had not been crystallized into definite stands but general uncertainty was a typical feature.
Quite a few of those who sought treatment in Helsinki had started with hashish but almost all of them had been multiple drug users. If the person had used only one drug, it was either thinner or some medical preparation.
The only Finnish investigation concerning a drug scene is by Rosen
qvist (1970) in Helsinki. The subjects were users since hashish smoking might have lasted for some time (3 to 5 years). Types of drug use were similar to those found in other drug scenes: more than one half had, be
sides smoking hashish, tried other drugs, mainly LSD, ampetamine and medical drugs. Rosenqvist classified the users as follows:
1. City group: The name derives from the �eeting place of the group.
It included school students, workers and idlers. Some used hashish but the group also used alcohol and amphetamine.
2. Ideological groups: The members of these groups regarded themselves as "real users". Hashish played an important part in their lives.
Hashish acted as a catalyst in different functions, such as thinking, artistic and political activities. The users closely followed what was being written about cannabis. The users of these groups knew the mar
keting system for drugs and some obtained and sold drugs to the City group.
3, Weekend smokers: This group had no contacts with the City group but some connection with the ideological groups. Users were mainly school and university students. They used hashish only on certain occasions and smoking did not have a great effect on their lives.
The Rosenqvist study brings out similar ideological contents which was encountered in the thinking of marijuana smokers in the 19601s (cf,
"consciousness III"). Some of the users had adopted this ideology more profoundly (ideological groups), for some hashish was one drug among many (City group), and the rest used hashish mainly for relaxation (weekend smokers).
5,3.2, The image of a young drug user conveyed by Finnish opinion formers
"Finnish opinion former" is here used to refer to persons who as experts or using expert statements have in the 19601s and the 19701s dealt in public with drug use. In building up the conveyed by opinion formers the main sources of information have been magazines and information bro
chures. The articles date from the turn of the decade and the early years of the 1970's, which may be due to the fact that the drug bill was under preparation at that time. Lately the use of drugs by young people has not been in the forefront of public discussion.
Several opinion formers present a young drug-user as an individ
ual with a psychically deviating personality, who attempts to solve his psycho-social problems by resorting to drug use (Maatta 1975a). In the background they see disharmonious homes, broken families or unusually strong identity crises, which may even lead a youth from a "good and well-to-do" home to drug use. The user is seen as a young person in need of treatment, who cannot solve those psychic problems that are con
sidered to have caused drug use without expert help.
Finnish opinion formers have not discussed the psychically "normal"
youth, whose drug use has a certain ideological foundation (cf. marijua
na smokers). There are some references to the rejection of the values of the consumer society, the declining importance of religion, home and school and the breach of norms, but they are seen as part of the behav
iour of a certain risk group. The internal value system of user groups is depicted in such a way human relations have no significance, drugs and the money needed for securing them are the focus of all activity.
Maladaptation and criminality 8rP Hssor.iated with the users' sphere of life,
The presentation of the properties of drugs has had a central po
sition in the articles published by Finnish opinion formers. Hashish is presented as a drug which easily leads tothe use of stronger drugs (e.g.
Achte, Alanen & Tienari 1971). It is also presented as a certainty that hashish is dangerous because it causes psychic reactions (paranoid reac
tions, risk of psychosis) and physical damage (Maatta 1975a).
The image of the young drug user and of the consequences of drug use conveyed by opinion formers determines the contents of the dominant image, on the basis of which decisions are taken on the contents of con
trol, information and treatment measures. The most important group of opinion formers has been those doctors who have expressed their opinion on drug use, because their expert opinion carries much weight. The ma
jority of Finnish doctors in line with doctors in other countries have taken a stronly negative stand towards cannabis use. The contents of present Finnish drug legislation were largely discussed on the basis of doctors' expert statements.