See U-FOLD seminars at Almedalen Week 2023 online

(Image removed) U-FOLD Seminar: Drugs and gang crime

Wednesday 28 June, U-FOLD (Uppsala University Forum for Research on Drug and Pharmaceutical Addiction) arranged the seminar Drugs, mental illness and violence (Droger, psykisk ohälsa och våld): A meeting that highlighted the documented connection between mental illness and drugs – an obvious risk factor considering the increasing number of young people suffering from mental illness – and the recurrent occurrence of drugs in men's violence against women.

“We know that children growing up in a family where abuse is present run a greater risk of experiencing or being exposed to violence themselves, which may in the long run lead to mental illness and drug addiction. This is happening everywhere throughout society, and to detect it we need to pay attention to any signals of violence. In addition, national guidelines and increased support are needed, as well as full funding to prevent men's violence against women,” states Zophia Mellgren, coordinator at SKR and lecturer at the seminar.

• SEE SEMINAR Droger, psykisk ohälsa och våld online

(Image removed) Fred Nyberg, U-FOLD, Zophia Mellgren, SKR

At the seminar Drugs and gang crime (Droger och gängkriminalitet), U-FOLD resumes the thread from two previously, well-attended meeting places in Uppsala. The Almedalen panel includes Sara Heine at the Narcotics Policy Center, reporting on consequences of decriminalizing drugs, and Jale Poljarevius, Head of Intelligence in Police Region Mitt, delivering a current report from the police's work against drug-related and organized crime.

“Our observations include that the isolation experienced by many during the pandemic may have contributed to the increasing mental illness. Something that in turn can have been a contributing factor to increased use of narcotics, and we know for a fact that with an increased traffic of, for example, cocaine comes an increased degree of violence,” notes Jale Poljarevius.

• SEE SEMINAR Droger och gängkriminalitet online

FACTS U-FOLD

• Is Uppsala University's Forum for Research on Drug and Pharmaceutical Addiction.
• Was inaugurated in Uppsala in 2011 as a regional gathering of expertise against the challenges of addiction.
• Currently gathers about twenty organisations that work together for a better society.

LEARN MORE

• U-FOLD at Almedalen Week 2023
• Uppsala University at Almedalen Week 2023

CONTACT

(Image removed) Mathias Hallberg, Chair, U-FOLD
Professor & Dean, Faculty of Pharmacy
Mathias.Hallberg@farmbio.uu.se

(Image removed) Fred Nyberg, Senior advisor, U-FOLD
Senior Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy
Fred.Nyberg@farmbio.uu.se

text: Magnus Alsne, photo: U-FOLD, Mikael Wallerstedt