Currently all non-medical dealings with narcotic drugs are criminalized in Sweden. When drug use was criminalized in 1988, it was argued that this was necessary to signal a powerful repudiation by the community of all dealings with drugs, and would have a preventive effect on young people and other persons at risk for narcotic drug misuse. In 1993, imprisonment for up to 6 months was introduced into the scale of punishment for personal drug use. Since criminalization was introduced, more young persons not previously known for drug offenses have been identified and prosecuted as a result of police activities. There has been a marked increase in prosecutions for personal drug use. However, the largest group to be prosecuted as a result of changed police practice consists of older and previously known misusers. There are no clear indications that criminalization and increased severity of punishment has had a deterrent effect on the drug habits of young people or that new recruitment to drug misuse has been halted. The proportion of young persons claiming to have experimented with drugs has increased throughout the 1990's.