Answer to submitter. Do not make addicts to scapegoats for the gang war

When Niklas Andersson Opens DN and is met by yet another shooting, he knows – like many others – despair, fear and anger. That feeling is justified. The violence has crept into our everyday lives and we are many who wonder: how could it be this way?

He points out a scapegoat: the user. « Stop drugs, then the shootings end, » is the content. It is a message that is perceived as actionable – seemingly logical, appealing in its simplicity. But that’s why it’s dangerous.

Moralizing over users does not help us forward. It creates shame, guilt, and an even greater distance between individual and society. Instead of building bridges for rehabilitation, care and understanding, we kick down – against people who are already at the bottom of society’s hierarchy.

It is also a simplification which risks misleading the debate. The violent crime we see today is no longer primarily driven by large, drug -financed organizations. It is increasingly about young people in informal networks, sometimes barely organized at all – with violence such as social currency, honor such as hard currency, and settlements driven by respect, belonging and revenge. Gang environments today are increasingly serving as surrogate families in a society where many young people do not feel seen.

And no – even if every user ended tomorrow, neither the weapons would disappear nor the violence cease. The market would move. The criminals would find new ways to capitalize-through robbery, arms trade, exploitation of young people, games, prostitution, ID fraud. To believe that the demand for intoxicants alone keeps the gang violence going is to underestimate the problem.

This does not mean that we should ignore the connection between use and crime. But we must be able to keep two thoughts in our heads at the same time: yes, some forms of use contribute to the financing of crime. But no, the solution is not to blame every individual who self -medication anxiety, trauma or life.

We cannot moralize ourselves out of a crisis. We need an adult society that realizes that addiction is a public health issue, not a lack of character. That addicts are people, not tools for criminals – and definitely not the scapegoats of our time.

Niklas, I hear your fear. I share it. But I refuse to direct it to the weakest. If we really want to overcome the violence, it starts with honesty: about class, about belonging, about human value. And it requires more than a moral call. It requires community building.

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