During the winter season, tens of thousands of tourists come to the ski resort of Åre. Ski slopes attract here, but also a rich nightlife with restaurants, pubs and nightclubs.
– There are drugs, absolutely, says Andreas Zehlander.
Something that became clear when SVT accompanied a police patrol into the nightlife. The day before, a bag of suspected cocaine had been found on a dance floor. The next day, a bag with the suspected net drug crystal was found in the middle of the village by a ski lift.
– It’s terrible. Imagine if a child had found this and swallowed it, says Andreas Zehlander.
Tourists come and go
SVT has mapped how many were sentenced for minor drug offenses between January 2021 and August 2022. In Åre municipality, it is about seven people where all cases were classified as possession or use of cannabis.
But the survey only shows those who are registered in the municipality. Tourists, who are on a temporary visit, do not appear in those statistics.
– We take as many samples as we can, but the challenge for us is that the population is constantly being replaced. So next week, completely different people will be here, says Andreas Zehlander.
130 notifications in 2022
In 2022, the police in Åre made a total of 130 reports about suspected minor drug crimes.
From January 1 to mid-February this year, they have drawn up 19 reports of drug offenses through personal use and nine offenses related to possession.
A few weeks ago, the police also searched the homes of two younger people in the municipality. Then they found several hundred grams of suspected cannabis and several hundred drug-classified tablets.