EHYT adopts new strategy: Preventive substance use work reduces harm and saves costs

23.03.2036 - The representative assembly of EHYT, the Finnish Association for Substance Abuse Prevention, proposes that funding for preventive substance use work should be secured from revenues collected from substances and gambling. EHYT’s members gathered on 21 March 2026 for the fifth representative assembly in the organisation’s history. At the meeting, a new strategy was adopted and a new council was elected for the next three-year term, 2026 to 2029. Master of Laws Eija Koivuranta was elected chair of the council, and Anne Taulu, PhD, LicSc (Health Sciences), was elected vice-chair. EHYT’s vision is a society where everyone can grow up, participate and live safely without harms caused by substances and gambling.

Achieving this vision requires long-term and stable funding for preventive substance use work, which also strengthens people’s participation in society. As a solution, the organisation proposes that part of the excise taxes on alcohol, tobacco and nicotine products, as well as gambling revenues, should be earmarked for the prevention of substance-related harms.

“Preventing substance-related harm is in the interest of society as a whole. It is justified that part of the tax revenues from products that cause harm should be directed straight to prevention,” says EHYT’s executive director Juha Mikkonen.

There is a major imbalance between harmful revenues and prevention. The state receives significant tax income from substances and gambling. According to the 2026 state budget, the revenues are:

Alcohol tax, approximately EUR 1.45 billion.

Tobacco tax, approximately EUR 1.12 billion.

Revenues from gambling operations and lottery tax combined, approximately EUR 594 million.

In total, revenues related to substances and gambling are estimated at around EUR 3.15 billion per year.

There is a many-hundred-fold gap between the excise revenues collected from substances and the funding available for preventive work. As Finland’s largest expert and civic organisation for preventive substance use work, EHYT could operate at its current level for more than 700 years on the basis of just one year of harmful-product revenues.

Smoking is a good example of how sustained preventive work and public health-based regulation can deliver results. Smoking has declined significantly thanks to determined policy, taxation and preventive work. Finland has previously used earmarking in tobacco prevention. Between 1977 and 2009, the Tobacco Act contained a provision requiring that part of the funds be directed to smoking prevention and related research.

“When prevention succeeds, it pays for itself many times over. That is why the investment must be strengthened and the structures and resources for this work must be secured,” Mikkonen says.

EHYT proposes that earmarking harmful-product taxes should be reintroduced in harm prevention so that long-term and effective work can be safeguarded. If direct earmarking is not considered desirable, public authorities should ensure through legislation that part of the profits from the sale of substances and other harmful products is channelled to prevention, for example through responsibility fees linked to sales volumes.

The extensive health, social and economic harms caused by substance use are an undeniable fact. Society must ensure that the costs of these harms do not fall solely on citizens and the public sector.

EHYT’s strategy aims for a safe society. Its vision is a society where everyone can grow up, participate and live safely without harms caused by substances and gambling. During the strategy period, the organisation will strengthen civic activity and expert work and develop the effectiveness of preventive substance use work throughout the country.

The new strategy highlights EHYT as an actor that prevents substance-related and gambling-related harms before they arise. Grassroots preventive work, from children and young people to working-age and retired people, will continue to be central. EHYT also acts as a societal challenger, encouraging individuals, communities and society as a whole to reflect on their relationship with substances and gambling.

The organisation also focuses on bringing citizens together to work for a healthier and safer Finland. In addition, it supports people and their loved ones in life situations where substances create additional strain. It offers information, support and activities.

“Substance-related and gambling-related harms affect individuals, communities and society as a whole. As a civic and expert organisation, EHYT has a key role in ensuring that citizens and decision-makers have accurate and reliable information on substance-related and gambling-related harms, as well as solutions for reducing them,” Mikkonen concludes.

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Source: EHYT ry