Finland's Interior Minister Mari Rantanen (Finns) has warned that the spread of the synthetic drug alpha-PVP, known on the street as peukku (a Finnish slang word for "thumb"), poses a growing challenge for the country.
Speaking to Yle at the long-standing bar Kolme Kaisaa in Helsinki's Sörnäinen district — an area with a reputation for drug use and dealing — Rantanen called on users to seek treatment and to stop using the drug.
"It's dangerous, extremely dangerous," she said.
Alpha-PVP has largely replaced amphetamine in parts of Helsinki and is considered highly addictive and unpredictable.
Authorities say the drug, which is manufactured in China, Europe and even Finland, has become more prevalent in recent months. The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) has reported a sharp increase in detections of the drug in autopsies and wastewater samples.
Unlike many other substances, officials have warned that alpha-PVP can make users violent and erratic. Police believe the drug may have been a factor in several serious crimes in Helsinki this summer. Hospitals have also reported cases where patients under the influence of alpha-PVP caused dangerous situations in emergency departments.
"This is a challenge for the whole of Finnish society — not just for the police, not just for healthcare, not just for the users themselves," Rantanen said.
Asked whether Finland had failed to tackle the problem, she replied: "Certainly."
Stigma and safety
Experts have expressed concern about the way authorities are now portraying drug users as a risk to others.
THL's special adviser Sanna Kailanto said she worried both about the safety of users and of frontline staff but warned that framing users as inherently dangerous risks fuelling stigma.
"Finland has done a lot to reduce the stigma attached to problematic drug use. The discourse around alpha-PVP has pushed that backwards," she said.
Law enforcement and support
Rantanen said measures under her remit included expanding police powers, improving intelligence-sharing and targeting organised crime groups running the drug trade.
But she also stressed the importance of offering treatment to those wanting to leave "the dark and dreadful world these people live in." Experts have highlighted the need for more low-threshold services where people can access help even while under the influence.
Rantanen, who previously worked as a paramedic and police officer, said society needed both deterrence and care.
"We shouldn't set these against each other," she said. "We have laws against drug use. But there also has to be treatment available. Changing your life is extremely difficult — I don't underestimate it."
Rantanen said her strong stance against drugs stemmed from prevention classes she attended as a child, as well as from personal experience given that someone close to her once struggled with addiction.
"That story ended well.Their life is completely back in order. And it is a good, ordinary life," she said.
As Rantanen left the bar in mid-afternoon, police in the surrounding Sörnäinen area were handling what they described as a routine Thursday evening — seven incidents in total.
