Enjoyed reading this, thanks - brings back memories. I lived in Sweden many years ago as a college student. Also have family in Finland, and visit every so many years. Been in Denmark a bit and Norway a bit. Never much of a drinker so the "systemet" wasn't an issue for me. Though it was interesting that the drinking age has two steps in Sweden. At 18 you can buy low-alcohol (supermarket) beer. Then at 20 you can buy whatever - at the systemet of course. I turned 21 - the California (where I grew up) legal drinking age - in a country where it meant nothing.

As someone commented - part of the historical systemet purpose, I was told also when living there, was to limit sales because of significant alcoholism. Interestingly, in my observations there and from what my Swedish schoolmates and family told me, Danes handle liquor much better than Swedes, both countries have long dark winters, and Denmark has open liquor sales. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.

I was on the west coast of southern Sweden, where Swedes would take the ferries to Copenhagen for the open liquor culture and handle it very poorly (get stinking drunk, and throw up on the ride back across the sound - this was decades before the bridge).

Some years later I lived in Utah for a couple ski seasons. Now there are some weird liquor laws! Setups and mini-bottles...at separate cash registers. Made the systemet seem pretty reasonable.

And yeah, snus is disgusting.