Research project Local drug prevention in Sweden 2011-2020 – magnitude and impact on consumption and harm

Despite the fact that knowledge about the municipalities' preventive work regarding alcohol, drugs and tobacco has increased in Sweden in recent years, research on its magnitude and impact on consumption and harm is limited. Some studies have suggested that local alcohol prevention has contributed to reduced alcohol-related harm, while corresponding studies of the municipalities' prevention work to reduce harm related to drug and tobacco use are lacking. Against this background, it is important to monitor the preventive work in Sweden and to analyze whether it has contributed to reduced drug related problems.

This research project describes the municipalities' alcohol, drugs and tobacco-related prevention work for the period 2011- 2020 based on new data that enables a number of studies. The data consists of the information that the municipalities report each year to the County Administrative Boards on what they do in the preventive area. This compilation of prevention work is used in a first step to understand the variation across municipalities in the magnitude of prevention work.

In a next step, the association between alcohol, drugs and tobacco prevention and the occurrence of related problems in the municipalities is examined. These analyses assess the significance of all alcohol, drugs and tobacco prevention together to take into account possible synergy effects, but also the specific possible impact of certain types of prevention and the use of specific prevention methods. Another question to be addressed is whether the magnitude and importance of prevention work varies with the municipality's socio-economic profile.