This dissertation examines how the policing of drugs in Sweden was shaped, organised and transformed between 1993 and 2020. During this period, the number of reported drug offences increased from around 40,000 to 124,000 per year, while drug use and possession of small quantities came to account for an increasingly large share of these offences. Drawing on official documents, police material, archival sources and interviews, the study analyses the interplay between political priorities, legal frameworks, organisational conditions, knowledge and police practice.

The study shows that the expansion of policing directed at drug use and possession of small quantities resulted from several interconnected processes. The police acted not only as implementers but also as policy shapers, actively contributing to the development of drug policy and to the legal and knowledge-based conditions for control. Specialist knowledge and working methods were subsequently standardised and disseminated across the organisation, transforming the policing of minor drug offences from a specialist activity into an established part of ordinary police work. This broader capacity interacted with performance requirements that rewarded measurable activity, reinforcing the practice and contributing to its persistence even as drugs lost much of their status as a distinct political and organisational priority. At the same time, drug control acquired multiple policing functions, including investigation, disruption and intelligence gathering, contributing both to its persistence and to the concentration of police control on people and places already subject to police attention. Together, these processes help explain the sharp increase in reported drug offences and the growing concentration of police activity on drug use and possession of small quantities.