– Hello, we have your teenager here and we suspect that he has been using drugs. We would like you to go to Friskvårdsvägen 6.
“This is what it can sound like when the police contact the parents after picking up a young person in the city,” says Josefine Ristmägi, district police officer in the Globen local police district.
The Moomin site is located at Friskvårdsvägen 6, in the same building as Maria Ungdom. A site that can be used as a police station, with meeting rooms designed to feel safer than the classic intervention environment.
– When we come in, we decide to do a body inspection, which means we take a urine sample to see if the young person has drugs in their system. At the same time we contact the social services, primarily the youth center in Stockholm, otherwise the social center.
Right there, in the meeting In the area of tension between police, nursing and social services, an opportunity arises where the chance of curbing the onset of drug use is greatest.
– The advantages are many. On the one hand, a rapid test is carried out that can detect drug use, but on the other hand, the conversations are often more open and honest. Our goal is not to get someone there, but to help them get help.
The community project Moomin, Maria Ungdom Motivating Intervention has existed since 2004 and aims to identify young people at risk early and reduce the gap between police intervention and the efforts of care or social services. There was a new investment last year, not least due to the increase in youth crime and the connection with drugs requiring cooperation.
– The young people will be offered an appointment at Mini Maria within a few days. Otherwise, it can take months to get help, and a lot can happen in that time. Often the young person convinces the parents that it was a one-off event and then there is no visit at all.
Even if the darkness It’s great, Moomin reaches many people who otherwise wouldn’t have been caught. At the same time, one clear problem remains: girls. Surveys like the Stockholm survey show that about as many girls as boys have tried drugs. However, only about 30 percent of those treated through Mini Maria are girls.
– Brides are smarter, plan more and listen less. We are receiving more calls and tips from the public about places where boys are. Both we in the police and the public easily forget the girls. That’s why we’re actively working to change our mindset by reminding ourselves and educating parents and other adults.
Read more:
Here, 9 out of 10 young people become drug-free
