LAUSANNE, Switzerland - No matter how hard they tried to claim victory, International Olympic Committee leaders couldn't disguise the reality: Their authority has eroded even further. In a blunt rejection of that leadership, the 15 European Union governments refused to accept a watered-down final resolution at the Olympic drug summit, which ended Thursday. Their stance was a sharp setback for the IOC and its president, Juan Antonio Samaranch, as they struggled to regain credibility in the wake of the Salt Lake corruption scandals. [continues 932 words]
The IOC, scrambling to keep its drug summit from being overshadowed by the Olympic corruption scandals, ran into disputes over key issues in the anti-doping fight yesterday in Lausanne, Switzerland. Differences emerged over the structure of a proposed international drug agency, the definition of doping and the severity of sanctions. The International Olympic Committee executive board, meanwhile, met under tight secrecy to discuss the twin crises of corruption and drugs. In action directly linked to the bribery scandal, the board started the IOC's first ethics commission and code of conduct. Director general Francois Carrard said the ethics panel would police "the general conduct of IOC members and their business practices." He said the five-member panel would include three officials from outside the IOC. [continues 167 words]
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) Professional athletes should face year-round drug testing if they want to compete in the Olympics, U.S. drug officials said Tuesday. White House drug chief Barry McCaffrey said the Olympic movement needs to create an independent anti-doping agency that would carry out mandatory out-of-competition testing on all potential Olympic competitors including pros. "I would like to see testing in these professional leagues," McCaffrey said. "I think some of the pro leagues are already going in that direction and I think you'll hear more from the U.S. Olympic Committee. [continues 296 words]
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - The IOC was assailed about drugs and corruption Tuesday, with the White House leading the call for the scandal-hit organization to clean up its act. "Recent examples of alleged corruption, lack of accountability and the failure of leadership have challenged the legitimacy of this institution," Barry McCaffrey, a White House adviser on drug policy, said on the opening day of the IOC's drug summit. McCaffrey said the IOC must institute democratic reforms and open its books to have any credibility in leading the fight against drugs in sports. [continues 1013 words]
LAUSANNE, Switzerland - Still caught up in a widening corruption scandal, the International Olympic Committee now has to deal with another ethical issue that is potentially just as damaging: drugs. With the bribery crisis unfolding, the IOC finds itself in the tricky position of staging a world summit next week against the escalating use of performance-enhancing drugs. The timing couldn't have been worse. Does the IOC and its embattled president, Juan Antonio Samaranch have the ethical authority to lead a crusade against drugs when the committee's own standards are under attack in the biggest corruption scandal in Olympic history? [continues 1070 words]
TV documentaries are an area of the news which we can not easily cover. Thus it is appreciated when others make available outstanding news features. The CBS 60 Minute segment, about 12 minutes long, is now on line (go to the bottom of the page) in RealVideo format at: http://www.legalize-usa.org/TOCs/video7.htm I have also included, below, the DrugSense FOCUS Alert distributed yesterday for those of you who may not be aware of our FOCUS Alert efforts. FOCUS Alerts are designed to encourage readers to react to specific media events - newspaper editorials, stories, and in this case an outstanding TV segment. FOCUS Alerts are distributed by email when appropriate, but on the average no more than one or two a week. You may sign up to receive FOCUS Alerts at: [continues 804 words]
IT was reported (C-M, Dec 1) that 84 percent of Swiss voters had opposed the legalisation of hard drugs. The vote is very significant in the context of that nation's experiments with liberal drug policies. It is a telling blow to the so-called harm minimisation approach. In 1989, the Swiss Government established an elaborate social service network for addicts in a central park in Zurich, later to become known worldwide as Needle Park. Addicts were offered counselling, help with employment, free condoms, needles, syringes, medical aid, blankets, food and clothing. Free needles were distributed in exchange for used ones. Needle supply reached an average 7800 a day and the problem became a nightmare. Drugs were bought, sold and consumed 24 hours a day and 50 percent of addicts tested positive to HIV despite free needles. [continues 163 words]
THE AFTERMATH OF DROLEG WILL BE DOMINATED BY THE DEBATE ON THE LEGAL STATUS OF CANNABIS. Sunday, after a very low-key campaign, the Swiss people will say if they wish to reverse a century-long policy and begin a controlled distribution of all narcotics. There is little doubt about the result of the vote, and the only question of interest will be the magnitude of the defeat: will it be more or less than the "Youth Without Drugs" initiative, defeated in Spetember 1997 by a 71% majority? In a larger sense, the test poses a question that is becoming a critical political issue: the status of cannabis in Swiss law. [continues 698 words]
ZURICH, Dec 4 (Reuters) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter and his International Olympic Committee counterpart Juan Antonio Samaranch will meet next month in an attempt to resolve their differences on proposed common rules regarding doping offenders. Last week international sports leaders meeting in Lausanne moved a step nearer creating a common united **policy** against **drug** abuse, but FIFA, along with the international cycling and tennis federations, have strong reservations about the implications of such measures on their sports. Blatter said on Friday that while FIFA supported the idea of random out-of-competition testing, it was concerned about the all embracing anti-doping **policy** being developed by the IOC. [continues 129 words]
Bern. - According to the results of a 1997 health questionnaire, publish ed by the federal office of statistics, the number of young people smoking cigarettes and using cannabis has risen sharply. Whereas in 1992 the number of smokers was 31%, of cannabis users, 16%, today's figures are 43% and 27% respectively. At the same time, 80% of those questioned estimated their health as `go od' to `very good'. [continues 4 words]
Swiss voters yesterday threw out proposals to legalise consumption of heroin and other narcotics. Some 74% of voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that the consumption, cultivation or possession of drugs, and their acquisition for personal use, is not punishable. Around 26% - or 454,404 people - voted in favour. The Swiss electorate is summoned to the polls three or four times a year over a huge range of subjects - new corn laws and labour legislation were also voted on yesterday. Turnout was 37%. [continues 260 words]
GENEVA -- Swiss voters on Sunday decisively defeated a radical measure to legalize marijuana as well as heroin and cocaine, turning aside arguments that a government-managed narcotics network would curb drug-related crime. The proposal would have turned Switzerland into a virtual free-drugs zone, with any resident over 18 years old able to buy narcotics at state-approved pharmacies, after consulting a doctor. Nearly 74 percent of voters rejected the initiative, which had been expected to fail, but not to such an overwhelming extent. [continues 191 words]
ZURICH, Switzerland (CNN) -- Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a sweeping proposal to legalize narcotics, including everything from marijuana to heroin. Backers of the controversial proposal said it would eliminate the drug mafia, while critics declared it would isolate Switzerland as a drug haven. The bold initiative fell short when it failed to carry a majority of Swiss states, the Swiss SDA news agency reported. An exit poll by Swiss state broadcaster DRS found voters were against the ambitious plan by 3-1. [continues 398 words]
GENEVA -- Swiss voters on Sunday decisively defeated a measure to legalize marijuana as well as heroin and cocaine, apparently heeding government warnings that the proposed law would turn the nation into a drug haven. With all ballots counted, 74 percent voted against and 26 percent for a constitutional amendment that would make legal "the consumption, cultivation or possession of drugs, and their acquisition for personal use." Last year, the Swiss were the first in the world to vote overwhelmingly in favor of state distribution of heroin to hard-core addicts. [continues 242 words]
GENEVA - The Swiss on Sunday voted overwhelmingly against legalizing heroin and other narcotics, apparently heeding government warnings the proposed law would turn their pristine Alpine nation into a drug haven. With all ballots counted, 74 percent voted against a constitutional amendment that would make legal "the consumption, cultivation or possession of drugs, and their acquisition for personal use." In favor were 26 percent, or 454,404 people. Last year, the Swiss were the first in the world to vote overwhelmingly in favor of state distribution of heroin to hardened addicts. [continues 179 words]
GENEVA -- The Swiss are voting Sunday on whether to legalize everything from marijuana to heroin and cocaine, a measure that -- if passed -- would give Switzerland the most sweeping decriminalization of drug use, possession and production in Europe. Government officials are warning that a yes vote could turn this tranquil Alpine nation into a "paradise for the Mafia," and a magnet for "drug tourists," attracted by readily available hard and soft drugs. Proponents of the drug legalization initiative, led by a group of Socialists and medical doctors, argue that it could break up Switzerland's flourishing black market in drugs and save the country hundreds of millions of dollars in law enforcement. [continues 654 words]
GENEVA (AP) -- Heeding government warnings against turning their pristine Alpine nation into a drug haven, Swiss voters rejected proposals Sunday to legalize consumption of heroin and other narcotics. With a majority of results declared by mid-afternoon, not a single state accepted the proposal. For it to pass, it needed a majority of the 26 cantons and an absolute majority of votes. Polls published for Swiss television forecast a 75 percent vote against the proposed constitutional amendment that ``the consumption, cultivation or possession of drugs, and their acquisition for personal use, is not punishable.'' [continues 319 words]
ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss voters Sunday rejected by a thumping three-to-one margin a sweeping proposal to legalize narcotics that backers said would eliminate the drugs mafia but critics said would make Switzerland a drugs haven. The plan would have made Switzerland the only country in the world where anyone aged 18 or older could buy narcotics of their choice, from marijuana to heroin, from state-run outlets or pharmacies after consulting a physician. With 22 of 26 cantons (states) reporting, the measure had not carried a single canton and had garnered the support of only 26.8 percent of votes counted so far. [continues 400 words]
GENEVA (AP) -- Marijuana, cocaine and heroin would all be legal in Switzerland if a referendum to decriminalize drugs passes this Sunday. The government opposes the plan, fearing it would turn the orderly Alpine nation into a haven for drug tourists and traffickers. Also against it are church groups, police chiefs, social workers, doctors and other professionals who work with addicts. But the left-wing coalition that gathered the necessary 100,000 signatures for the referendum claims its passage would kill the street market in drugs. [continues 220 words]
Marijuana,cocaine and heroin would all be legal in Switzerland if a referendum to decriminalize drugs passes this Sunday. The government opposes the plan,fearing it would turn the orderly Alpine nation into a haven for drug tourists and traffickers.Also against it are church groups,police chiefs,social workers,doctors and other professionals who work with addicts. But the left-wing coalition that gathered the necessary 100,000 signatures for the referendum says its passage would kill the street market in drugs. The proposal would insert a clause into the constitution that says "the consumption,cultivation or possession of drugs,and their acquisition for personal use,is not punishable." - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake [end]
GENEVA (AP) Marijuana, cocaine and heroin would all be legal in Switzerland if a referendum to decriminalize drugs passes this Sunday. The government opposes the plan, fearing it would turn the orderly Alpine nation into a haven for drug tourists and traffickers. Also against it are church groups, police chiefs, social workers, doctors and other professionals who work with addicts. But the left-wing coalition that gathered the necessary 100,000 signatures for the referendum claims its passage would kill the street market in drugs. [continues 315 words]
ZURICH (Reuters)-Swiss voters Sunday will decide on a sweeping proposal to legalise narcotics, a measure that proponents say will knock out the drugs mafia but critics declare will isolate Switzerland as a haven for junkies. The plan would make Switzerland the only country in the world where anyone aged 18 or older could buy the narcotics of their choice, from marijuana to heroin, from state-run outlets or pharmacies after consultation. The proposal is widely expected to fail, as do most policy ideas put up by citizens for a national referendum under the Swiss system of direct democracy. [continues 434 words]
The Catholic People's Party (CDU) recommended rejection of all four issues on the agenda for the referendum on 29 Nov 1998." The (CDU, Catholic People's) Party rejects the Droleg Initiative since it would turn Switzerland into an international market place for drugs. The labour code would in the end facilitate post-capitalistic forms of the exploitation of the work force through the new Neo-liberalism. Olten, 8. Nov. "Die Katholische Volkspartei Schweiz (KVP) empfiehlt alle vier Abstimmungsvorlagen vom 29. November zur Ablehnung. "Die Droleg-Initiative lehnt die Partei ab, weil sie die Schweiz zu einem internationalen Umschlagplatz fur Drogen machen wurde. Das Arbeitsgesetz schliesslich ermogliche postkapitalistische Formen der Ausbeutung menschlicher Arbeitskraft durch den Neoliberalismus. - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake [end]
A half-century of drug prohibition has not impeded the exponential growth of the black market and has enriched the increasingly-efficient criminal elements who trade in drugs. According to the promoters of the DROLEG initiative, to be voted on at the end of the month, it is time to change course and initiate a regulated market for the now-prohibited drugs. Is this the correct course of action to take? What dangers will it present? Can Switzerland undertake such a project alone? Here is a response to such questions: [continues 2544 words]
Extended To Include All Drugs The Zurich town council has reviewed the principles on which it founded its drug policy in 1991. The review established the continuing validity of those principles. The goal of an invisible drug scene has been achieved. Its maintenance depends as much now as then on a great effort from all the participating bodies. What is new is the extension of the existing principles to drugs generally. Representing the municipal council were Esther Maurer, Monika Sticker, and Robert Neukomm, representing respectively, the departments of the police, social affairs and health. At a Wednesday press conference, they declared themselves well satisfied with the progress made by Zurich in the general area of drug control. [continues 155 words]
In Switzerland, the consumption of a prohibited drug is an offense punishable by penal sanctions (article 19a of the law on narcotics). But risk of apprehension and arrest is not the same in Geneva and Zurich. Each applies the law according its priorities and its political choices in the struggle against drugs. In 1994, a survey of the Federal Office of Statistics (OFS) already showed important disparities concerning the type of offense (consumption or traffic), or the type of drug ("hard drug" or hashish). [continues 213 words]
REFORMS. The voting on the Droleg initiative that will take place end of November will be decisive for current reforms. With the publication of several competing proposals on the topic, discussions won't be easy. After a long period of calm, the approach of the vote on the Droleg initiative at the end of November has reopened the political debate on prohibited drugs. The "Sonntags-Zeitung" (a Zurich newspaper) fired the first salvo Sunday in exposing a report of the Parliamentary working group, "Politique de la Drogue" (Politics of Illegal Drugs), on proposed modifications to the federal law on narcotics (LFS). In this report, the four governmental parties consider the possibility of testing the decriminalization of drug use solely in certain cities, similarly to the model of experimental prescription of heroin. [continues 616 words]
Bern -- The councilwoman federal Ruth Dreifuss calls "firmly" for Switzerland to reject the Droleg initiative next November 29. Friday, she criticized toughly "the naivete" of Droleg propositions which, if they were put in action, "would increase of alarming way the consumption of drugs." TO "the utopian" Droleg, Ruth Dreifuss opposes the pursuit of the politics "coherent and efficient" definite in 1994 by the federal Council. This one constitutes a scholarly dosage of complementary measures that borrows to the four domains that are the therapy and the reinsertion, the reduction of risks and help to the survival, the repression, and in short the prevention. Ruth Dreifuss warns: Droleg does not aim to legalise the consumption of hashish, as some believe it. The initiative goes very beyond: its authors ask in substance the decriminalization of the consumption and of the trade of all drugs (to read below). [continues 611 words]
"It's paradoxical that the Swiss authorities say they're not going to try Salinas for drug trafficking but are nonetheless going to confiscate $114 million that he has in Swiss bank accounts,"wrote political commentator Sergio Sarmiento in the newspaper Reforma. - --- Checked-by: Don Beck [end]
Crime: The brother of the ex-president of Mexico already is facing murder charges in his homeland. Mexico City-After years of threats, Swiss authorities have decided not to press money-laundering charges against Raul Salinas, the elder brother of Mexico's former president. The Swiss, however, said Tuesday that they have frozen accounts of Salinas totaling some $115 million, arguing that the money is linked to narcotics trafficking. The government said it would keep the funds "for the benefit of the state." Salinas is appealing to the Swiss Supreme Court to recover the funds. [continues 228 words]
ZURICH, Oct 16 (Reuters) - Switzerland's budding domestic marijuana trade took a direct hit on Friday when a judge ruled that selling cannabis in aroma sachets, long in legal limbo, was clearly against the law. The ruling in a test case, although likely to be appealed, could spell the end of a quirky three-year boom in marijuana selling in Switzerland based on an apparent loophole in the wording of the law. ``It is quite clear that cannabis is a narcotic and falls under the narcotics law,'' Zurich district judge Thomas Meyer told a courtroom packed with friends of shop owner Bruno Hiltebrand and supporters of legalising marijuana. [continues 216 words]
BERN. Switzerland's legal prescription programme involving handing out heroin to addicts is being made permanent this weekend. This Thursday the upper chamber in Bern voted yes to the proposal, 30 for and 4 against. So far the prescription of legal heroin, morphine and methadone to about 800 drug abusers has been carried out on an experimental basis. Now it is estimated that the number of drug abusers who will have legal access to the drugs will increase to at least 2000. Many of them have failed with other treatment programmes. [continues 56 words]
ZURICH, Oct 12 (Reuters) - In little shops springing up around Switzerland, you can buy all the marijuana you want. You just aren't supposed to smoke it. Drugs made from the hemp plant are illegal in Switzerland, as in most countries, but a turn of phrase in Swiss lawbooks leaves open a loophole by prohibiting trade in marijuana only if it is sold specifically as a narcotic. Enterprising hemp retailers are testing the limits of the law by selling marijuana as potpourri, or dried hemp packed in small cloth bags as an herbal room scent and labelled "not for consumption". [continues 829 words]
SWITZERLAND'S experimental drug-distribution program is set to be extended after Swiss lawmakers yesterday gave the go-ahead for doctors to prescribe heroin to long-term addicts on a permanent basis. The upper house of parliament approved the measure by 30 votes to four, following approval by the lower house the previous day. The move is expected to increase from 800 to some 2000 or more the number of addicts who can receive controlled distribution. It comes into effect Saturday. [continues 156 words]
NEW YORK (AP) -- Swiss investigators have concluded that the brother of former Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari played a key role in Mexico's cocaine trade and the flow of drugs into the United States, The New York Times reported Saturday. Raul Salinas, a food distribution official in his brother's administration, controlled "practically all drug shipments through Mexico," Swiss police concluded in the secret, 369-page report. That control began in 1988, when Carlos Salinas became president. The report claims Raul Salinas took approximately $500 million in bribes to protect the drug trade into the United States, even commandeering government trucks and railroad cars for cocaine shipments north. It also said he funneled drug money into his brother's presidential campaign. [continues 212 words]
A survey released by the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health constitutes its strongest-ever condemnation of the cost of smoking to Swiss society. The burden is calculated to be about US$6B75 each year. Approximately 35% of Switzerland's 7 million population are smokers. The survey, based on 1995 figures, commissioned by the Federal Office of Public Health and done by the Institute for Economic Research at NeuchE1tel University and the HealthEcon Bureau of Basle, also shows that about 40% of people in the 20-24 age group smoke, with the percentage of schoolchildren smoking cigarettes having risen from 4 to 7% in the past decade. In Switzerland cigarette smoking is particularly prevalent among teenagers, especially girls. [continues 95 words]
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey praised a Swiss program to register drug abusers, but said Wednesday he is skeptical of a government policy to distribute free heroin to addicts. McCaffrey is visiting Zurich as part of an eight-day tour to examine European drug treatment and prevention programs. He said he was impressed by a "relocation center" that takes addicts off the streets for 24 hours to register them, clean them up and, if possible, send them home. [continues 229 words]
ZURICH, Switzerland (AP) -- U.S. drug czar Barry McCaffrey praised a Swiss program to register drug abusers, but said Wednesday he is skeptical of a government policy to distribute free heroin to addicts. McCaffrey is visiting Zurich as part of an eight-day tour to examine European drug treatment and prevention programs. He said he was impressed by a ``relocation center'' that takes addicts off the streets for 24 hours to register them, clean them up and, if possible, send them home. [continues 234 words]
Heroin is one of the most feared drugs: the mortality among heroin users is many times higher than among other drug users. This year police and customs officials have uncovered record-breaking quantities of heroin in Sweden;among other reasons thanks to stepped up cooperation with the police in the former states of East Europe. About 65 kilograms of heroin have been seized in Sweden this year. That can be compared with 14 kilograms for all of 1997. "In all likelihood, cooperation with the Czech Republic and Slovakia has meant a lot," said Lennart Davidsson, the National Criminal Police Force"s expert on heroin smuggling from the Balkans. [continues 621 words]
ZURICH (Reuters) - The top U.S. drug policy adviser on Wednesday criticized Switzerland's heroin distribution program for severe addicts and said he was anxious to see the results of the experiment several years from now. "I'm very skeptical about the evidence of heroin maintenance. I think that our own thinking is to strongly oppose this. We have historical experience in the 1920s that it did not work," General Barry McCaffrey, the White House drugs chief, told a news briefing in Zurich. [continues 413 words]
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP)-- U.S. investigators have traced $132 million in Swiss banks to the brother of a former Mexican president and say at least some of the money came from drug traffickers, according to court documents released Friday. Switzerland's highest court disclosed for the first time details of the largely secret U.S. case against Raul Salinas de Gortari, the brother of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari. The Federal Tribunal made the disclosure in a decision allowing some bank account documents to be turned over to U.S. authorities, who have accused Salinas, his wife and others of money laundering, bribery and cocaine trafficking. [continues 182 words]
ZURICH -- Long-time heroin addict and dealer Marco P. may have hit bottom when he drew a 3 1/2-year prison term, but his habit did not. Behind bars, the fierce addiction that has consumed 17 of his 32 years continued. Now, thanks to a national heroin-dispensing program that last year earned ringing approval from Switzerland's cautious electorate, Marco sees some rays of hope. Three times a day, he shows up at the squeaky-clean injection room of the Project Crossline clinic, housed in a nondescript government building. And at one of its steel counters, under the close scrutiny of health-care professionals, he does what he used to do at home, or in parks or alleys : fill a vein with top-quality heroin. [continues 738 words]
Following voters' rejection in last year's national referendum of proposals aimed at forcing rapid abstinence on drug users, the Swiss government has issued a decree regarding treatment. This is accompanied by indications of the approximate total of addicts currently eligible for treatment under medical supervision: 800 on heroin, 100 on morphine, and about 100 on methadone. The decree does not set limits on the number of addicts who may receive treatment. Experimental administration of heroin, started in 1994, shows that between 2000 and 3000 people (about one in 10 of those believed to be on "hard" drugs) are "heavily dependent" addicts, most have tried repeatedly to break the habit. Authority for the existing programme expires in 2000; the decree extends it until a new law comes into force, expected not later than 2004. In it, heroin may be categorised as a medication, possibly prescribed by specially trained family doctors and paid for by sickness insurance. [end]
In 1986, the Swiss city of Zurich designated its Platzspitz park as a refuge for drug users, a place where they would be tolerated by police and even offered sterile needles and medical care. The goal wasn't to condone drug use, but to control its side effects mainly the diseases contracted by users and spread to the population at large. But, by the early 1990s, "Needle Park" bulged with Europe's outcasts. As crime rose in the area and a oncecharming garden became an eyesore, Zurich ended the experiment. [continues 1414 words]
A Federal Court decision handed down Monday said an investigating magistrate in the canton of Valais had jumped the gun last year by seizing 8.5 tons of Indian hemp from a commune that grew the weed, the Swiss SDA news agency reported. The commune twice asked in vain to get the crop back, arguing it was only filling industrial orders, including one for 1,100 pounds of dried hemp blossoms from a brewery that specializes in hemp beer. The judges ruled the magistrate should have considered that the blossoms could be used to make an entirely legal product. The fragrant flowers can now be released to the brewery provided it confirms it ordered them and gives assurances that the crop will be used only for brewing. [end]
By Richard Estrada The recent decision by Swiss voters to support the state distribution of heroin is unlikely to challenge a growing global perception of the world's most businesslike nation. The perception of a country whose love of expediency has been misinterpreted as a love of principled neutrality. Switzerland's vote of confidence in state heroin distribution merits a reprise of George Santayana's hoary but relevant caveat: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The decision by the Swiss to ignore the record of previous governmental efforts to distribute heroin in Western Europe can't bode well for that nation or its neighbors. [continues 546 words]
By Richard Karel More than five years after closure of the notorious "Needle Park" in Zurich, Switzerland The Swiss government has reported that an alternative, threeyear trial of controlled heroin prescribing for heroin addicts has been a resounding success. Five years ago the failure of a daring Swiss experiment that permitted an open air drug market in Zurich's Platzspitz park made headlines worldwide. That experiment collapsed of its own weight when the open, unregulated market attracted hordes of addicts and drug dealers from Europe and beyond. Television and newspaper stories featured nightmarish scenes of trampled shrubbery, urinesoaked soil littered with syringes, and zonked out junkies lying on park benches. Petty crime and overdoses soared. All this made for sensational news and elicited much head shaking as to what this implied for further attempts to deal with narcotics addiction in a medically oriented, non punitive way (Psychiatric News, September 1, 1993). [continues 1010 words]
By Richard Estrada / The Dallas Morning News The recent decision by Swiss voters to support the state distribution of heroin is unlikely to challenge a growing global perception of the world's most businesslike nation. The perception of a country whose love of expediency has been misinterpreted as a love of principled neutrality. Switzerland's vote of confidence in state heroin distribution merits a reprise of George Santayana's hoary but relevant caveat: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. The decision by the Swiss to ignore the record of previous governmental efforts to distribute heroin in Western Europe can't bode well for that nation or its neighbors. [continues 531 words]
The Swiss community has a conservative reputation and Australian proponents of a policy of "Just say no to drugs" assured us that the Swiss would reflect John Howard's view that heroin trials send the wrong signal. After two years experience of improvements to health, a decrease in crime and a dramatic reduction in the number of used syringes littering their parks and streets, the Swiss have emphatically endorsed their brave trial of a better way to deal with the drugs menace. If only our Government had the courage to read the signal the Swiss community have sent us. PETER WATNEY Holt [end]
Balz Bruppacher / Associated Press BERN, Switzerland (AP) Swiss voters on Sunday overwhelmingly endorsed their government's liberal drug policies, including the controversial but seemingly successful state distribution of heroin to hardened addicts. By a much bigger margin than predicted, nearly 71 percent of voters 1.3 million people threw out the proposal "Youth Without Drugs," which would have curtailed government programs for drug users. Only 29 percent, or 546,000 voters, were in favor. Turnout was just 40 percent. The health ministry immediately announced that it would try to put state distribution of heroin to hardened addicts on a permanent legal footing. [continues 582 words]
Inside Switzerland
