Indigenous ways of dealing with drug problems in Scandinavia now are overwhelmed by international condemnatory and control-oriented strategies. A preference for repression through legislation, law enforcement, and imprisonment more and more works against the "softer" strategies such as those based on community self-help and alternative treatment measures. Significant differences exist both historically and currently among the Scandinavian countries in regard to their policies on the control of intoxicants. Both the general public and government officials in Denmark continue to draw a distinction between alcohol and drug policies, but Denmark's efforts to follow its own policy are under much greater pressure when it comes to drugs than to alcohol. Standardization of criminal law in Nordic countries has progressed only as far as agreement on appropriate levels of legal penalties. A table presents an outline of some of the ideas underlying the term "control damage," or unintended negative side effects of repressive drug control policies in the form of a cost-benefit analysis. 8 notes, 1 table, and 11 references