Farm sales of alcohol will not have a significant impact on Swedes' drinking habits, according to experts. However, if it leads to Systembolaget losing its monopoly, it will have effects. A concern is that it will be easier for young people to buy alcohol.
The government wants to allow farm sales of alcohol as early as 2025. Alcoholic consumption has several known negative effects on health, but Social Minister Johan Forssmed (KD) is not worried about farm sales.
Sven Andréasson, professor emeritus of social medicine at Karolinska Institute and who has researched alcohol extensively, does not believe that farm sales, as proposed, will have significant consequences for public health.
However, if it leads to Systembolaget's monopoly disappearing in the long run, public health may be affected more. It opens up the possibility that alcohol can be sold by other stores without the strict rules of hours and stores that the monopoly entails, according to Andréasson.
Sven Andréasson specifically highlights Systembolaget's systematic age controls. It is currently difficult to buy alcohol in a store if you are under 20 years old.
In research projects, the same tests have been conducted in stores that sell folköl - where the age limit is 18 - and it turns out that significantly more underage individuals are able to buy.
Even the Central Association for Alcohol and Narcotics Information (CAN) believes that the proposal poses risks.
He highlights, among other things, new research showing that the risk of several types of cancer increases even at low levels of alcohol consumption.
