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 Sweden
General aspects
On December 31,1998, the Sweden population was of 8.8 million persons. In 1998 23,997 people were tested in Sweden at workplaces. 503 of them were verified positive by gc/ms corresponding to a percentage of 2.3%
Legal situation
There is no law in Sweden that regulates drug-testing. All handling and use of narcotics and anabolic steroids is forbidden. The Labour Court has on two occasions, 1991 and 1997, had cases regarding drug-testing. The latest ruling found "insignificant violation of individual integrity" and "As far as the Labour Court is concerned it is unrealistic that drug-testing should be excluded from an anti-drug programme because employers have reason to believe that drug-abuse does not occur. On the contrary a successful anti-drug programme in itself loses credibility if one refrains from drug-testing".
The Government investigated the question of drug-tests in 1995, and found no reason for legislation, instead they found it preferable that the labour market itself regulate the issue.
Summary
There are therefor no legal obsticles for drug-testing in Sweden. Most work places usually negotiate an agreement between employer and employees as to how the tests should be taken and who should be tested.
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