Aland stamp raises money for anti-drug program

Aland's post office, Posten Aland, reported that it has donated more than $10,000 to a youth anti-drug program, the Zero Tolerance project. The money was raised through the sale of Aland's third semipostal stamp, also called Zero Tolerance.

The €1.10+€0.20 Zero Tolerance semipostal was issued April 11, 2014, by Posten Aland in a quantity of 150,000. Joakim Saul created the black-and-white design, which resembles a dollar bill. In addition to the skull shown prominently in the upper left corner, the design includes snakes coiled above the denomination (€1.10) and surtax (€0.20) in the two lower corners.

In Posten Aland's magazine for collectors, Alands Posten Frimarken, Joakim explained why he felt the commission was challenging: "Anti-drug messages and strategies for work towards fundamentally changing attitudes towards drugs and alcohol are generally very difficult commissions. The more emphasis the communicator places on the fact that the use of drugs and alcohol is wrong, the more interesting it may be to try them. I fell for the idea of 'temptation that leads to downfall' at an early stage, and suitable symbols for this subject was forbidden fruit, carnivorous plants and snakes.”

Started in 2013 on the initiative of the Aland government, the Zero Tolerance project aims at preventing the use of various types of drugs among young people. The nongovernmental health care organization Folkhalsan pa Aland serves as the manager of the project.