Advertisement

Swedish police briefly hold rapper Snoop Dogg

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
Swedish police briefly hold rapper Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg performing at the Stadsträdgården in Uppsala, last night. Photo: Marcus Ericsson / TT

US rapper Snoop Dogg was briefly arrested by Swedish police on suspicion of using illegal drugs, police sources said on Sunday.

Advertisement

"Police carrying out roadside controls noticed that Snoop Dogg (whose car was pulled over) seemed to be under the influence of narcotics. He was arrested and taken to the police station to take a urine test," said Daniel Nilsson, a police spokesman for the central Uppsala region.
   
The incident happened after the celebrity rapper gave a concert in the area on Saturday night.
   
"The incident lasted several minutes. Once the test was carried out he left," Nilsson added.
   
The test results were not immediately available.

It is far from the 43-year-old music star's first brush with the law.

Snoop Dogg's song lyrics often display his fondness for marijuana and he has previously had run-ins with police elsewhere over the drug.

Sweden has by and large a 'zero tolerance' approach to drugs, although calls for legalizing the drug are sometimes heard. The Nordic country criminalized illicit drug use in 1988, following a two-year attempt to introduce a more tolerant approach that was considered a failure by authorities.

Anyone suspected of being 'high' can be detained and given a compulsory urine test. If positive, they are slapped with a criminal charge and must stand trial.

According to figures released by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) last year, only nine percent of the Swedish school population has tried cannabis, compared to 39 percent in France, 42 percent in the Czech Republic and around 25 percent in Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands.g

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also