Individual Submission Summary
Share...

Direct link:

The Ideological Trade-Off as the Scientific Epistemic Culture Meets the Political: The Case of Needle Exchange Policy in Sweden

Sat, September 7, 2:45 to 4:15pm, Sheraton New Orleans Hotel, Floor: Five, Grand Ballroom E

Abstract

Drug issues and drug policy is renowned for its resistance to research. In research focusing on the intersection between science and policy it has rather been characterized as very attached to individual and political values and ideologies. On the other hand many countries have long protested their belief in, and ambition towards, an evidence based drug policy. Based on Swedish parliamentary and Stockholm municipality records the paper examines more than thirty years of political resistance towards knowledge supporting needle exchange programs (NEPs) in what might be called an ideological trade-off in the encounter between the scientific epistemic culture and the political epistemic culture (Knorr Cetina, 1991).
The starting point is when the 1980s aids-epidemic struck and despite that e.g. WHO pointed out that intravenous drug use was a major cause of spreading the disease the policy response instead was to make substitution treatment more available. Ever since then the evidence and general knowledge about the advantages of NEPs, and lack of noticeable draw-backs, has grown steadily. Still, it was not until 2017 NEPs became mandatory in Sweden. This obvious interruption of knowledge calls for further investigation of practices, structures and/or relationships to understand how it was finally overcome.

Author