Reply to Bengt Westerberg: the pursuit of a drug-free society

Bengt Westerberg missed the point in his critique of "Pollution rituals in Sweden: pursuit of a drug-free society". The effectiveness of Sweden's restrictive line was not the issue. Moreover, Westerberg's defence of Swedish policy was highly selective in its use of statistics. Other statistics cast some doubt on his case. His reply also failed to mention that the opposition to some aspects of the restrictive line had included his own party and other political parties. The main point of my original article was ignored – the argument that it is unjust and illiberal to sentence an individual to prison for self-harm. It is also illiberal to argue that the end of a drug-free society is justified by means that encroach on basic human rights.