Stone Cold Sober - Icelandic youth substance abuse rates rank them "Cleanest in Europe"

A series of continent-wide studies ranks Icelandic teens the as the cleanest-living in Europe, following preventative measures implemented in the late 1990’s.

“Iceland had one of the biggest drinking and drug problems 30 years ago,” says Geoff Munro, National Policy Manager at Australia’s Alcohol and Drug Foundation, “and now they have a very low level of alcohol and drug use.”

In 1998, 42 per cent of Icelandic 15 and 16 year olds reported being drunk within a given month, placing them among the heaviest substance abusers in Europe. In 2016, that figure had dropped to just 5 per cent.

It was American psychology professor, Harvey Milkman, in 1992 that developed the Iceland Model (IM) – a series of enforced laws and curfews targeting adolescents in Iceland to reduce teen substance abuse.

“Why not orchestrate a social movement around natural highs?” said Milkman, whose philosophy is to strengthen family relationships, encourage co-curricular activities, and promote healthy alternatives to drugs and alcohol that provide a natural high.

"[IM] was designed around the idea of giving kids better things to do."

The model has now been implemented in 17 European countries due to its success, and it was a key recommendation in the 2018 Australian Drug Law Reform Enquiry Report.

Milkman argues that implementation of the Icelandic Model could benefit the psychological and physical wellbeing of millions of kids worldwide.

Solo female traveller, Virginia Guthrie, travelled extensively through Europe in 2017. “[Iceland] was by far the place I felt safest.”

Guthrie said that in other European countries, “drunk kids on the street, especially at night, wasn’t uncommon. It was something that was a reoccurring worry for me."

"Iceland was completely different. I didn’t question my safety once," she said. "It was such a contrast to see how well behaved kids were.”