Yle has found traces of drugs in three toilet cubicles of the Finnish Parliament building.
The samples were taken on an evening in November when parliamentary groups were holding their Christmas parties on the fifth floor, which contains meeting rooms and offices.
Aside from MPs, the Christmas parties are traditionally attended by parliamentary employees, ministerial assistants and journalists, including from Yle.
The samples taken on the evening of the Christmas parties were lab-tested and revealed traces of three drugs: amphetamines, ecstasy (MDMA) and cocaine.
Kalle Lagerblom, COO of Helsinki-based testing laboratory Measurlabs, told Yle that while the sample sizes are low, the results are unmistakable.
"The results can be considered pretty much bombproof. The residues are very small, but there are clearly [drug] residues," he said.
Yle took samples from six different cubicles in total, four on the fifth floor — where the Christmas parties were taking place — and two on the third floor. Only the fifth floor samples returned traces of banned narcotics.
The drug traces were found in three different cubicles, toilets used by both men and women.
Samples not conclusive proof of drug-taking
Interpreting the results, Lagerblom noted that the samples do not definitively prove drugs were consumed in the cubicles — but rather that a person who used the facilities had at some point in the recent past been in contact with drugs, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
He added that the drug traces could have ended up in the cubicles via clothing or human secretions, such as saliva, and that the contact with the drug may have occurred days earlier.
"In principle, it is enough that a person has been on a bus and sat on a seat with narcotics and some of it stuck to their clothes," Lagerblom explained.
The cubicles in the Finnish Parliament from which Yle took its samples are not specifically used by any single parliamentary group. In addition, representatives of different groups, as well as assistants and guests from outside Parliament, were invited to the Christmas parties.
Halla-aho: "Sad and pathetic"
However, despite the lack of irrefutable proof of drug-taking in the Finnish parliament building, the discovery of drug traces in the toilet cubicles has been widely condemned.
Speaker of Parliament Jussi Halla-aho (Finns) told Yle that he finds the discovery worrying, even if the amounts were small.
"It is of course sad and pathetic that there are signs in Parliament that people who may work here are using drugs," Halla-aho said. "It shows that drug use in society is increasing."
Antti Pelttari, Secretary General of the Finnish Parliament, echoed Halla-aho's comments that the discovery was concerning, especially if the drugs were consumed on parliamentary premises.
"I haven't personally noticed anything that would suggest drug use in the last year I've been working here," he said. "We have to look into it. This did indeed come as an unfortunate surprise."
Yle understands that Halla-aho and Pelttari will meet later on Monday to discuss measures aimed at tackling any possible use of drugs in parliament, although Halla-aho told Yle that there are few options available.
"I don't think it would get very broad support if we would put a sniffer dog at the door of Parliament to check everyone who enters," Halla-aho said.
Drug use increasing in Finland
As Halla-aho noted, drug use in Finland has been steadily rising since the 1990s.
Public health authority THL reported last summer on the results of a wastewater analysis, which revealed significantly higher levels of cocaine and amphetamine in urban areas compared to previous studies.
THL surveys have also found more and more people in Finland admitting to trying different drugs, with over one million saying they have smoked cannabis.
In addition, Finland saw a record-breaking number of drug-related deaths in 2023, according to figures published by the drug policy association Humaania päihdepolitiikkaa (HPP).
That year also saw a record high number of drug-related deaths among people under the age of 25.
Responding to reports of the drug traces found in parliamentary toilet cubicles, Centre Party leader Antti Kurvinen said the discovery is a reflection of wider Finnish society.
"This is a sad image of Finland. Attitudes towards drugs have eased and use has increased," Kurvinen noted.
Cocaine found in Swedish Parliament
Traces of drugs have also been found in the Swedish Parliament.
Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet reported last year that samples it collected from the toilet cubicles of offices connected to four different parliamentary groups contained cocaine residue.