Heroin Legalization Program Approved By Swiss Voters

GENEVA — The world's most comprehensive legalized heroin program became permanent Sunday with overwhelming approval from Swiss voters who simultaneously rejected the decriminalization of marijuana.

The heroin program, started in 1994, is offered in 23 centers across Switzerland. It has helped eliminate scenes of large groups of drug users shooting up openly in parks that marred Swiss cities in the 1980s and 1990s and is credited with reducing crime and improving the health and daily lives of addicts.

The nearly 1,300 selected addicts, who have been unhelped by other therapies, visit one of the centers twice a day to receive the carefully measured dose of heroin produced by a government-approved laboratory.

They keep their paraphernalia in cups labeled with their names and use the equipment and clean needles to inject themselves _ four at a time _ under the supervision of a nurse, and also receive counseling from psychiatrists and social workers.

The aim is to help the addicts learn how to function in society.

The United States and the U.N. narcotics board have criticized the program as potentially fueling drug abuse, but it has attracted attention from governments as far away as Australia and Canada, which in recent years have started or are considering their own programs modeled on the system.

The Netherlands started a smaller program in 2006, and it serves nearly 600 patients. Britain has allowed individual doctors to prescribe heroin since the 1920s, but it has been running trials similar to the Swiss approach in recent years. Belgium, Germany, Spain and Canada have been running trial programs too.

Sixty-eight percent of the 2.26 million Swiss voters casting ballots approved making the heroin program permanent.

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By contrast, around 63.2 percent of voters voted against the marijuana proposal, which was based on a separate citizens' initiative to decriminalize the consumption of marijuana and growing the plant for personal use.

Olivier Borer, 35, a musician from the northern town of Solothurn, said he welcomed the outcome in part because state action was required to help heroin addicts, but he said legalizing marijuana was a bad idea.

"I think it's very important to help these people, but not to facilitate the using of drugs," Borer said. "You can just see in the Netherlands how it's going. People just go there to smoke."

Sabina Geissbuehler-Strupler of the right-wing Swiss People's Party, which led the campaign against the heroin program, said she was disappointed in the vote.

"That is only damage limitation," she said. "Ninety-five percent of the addicts are not healed from the addiction."

Health insurance pays for the bulk of the program, which costs 26 million Swiss francs ($22 million) a year. All residents in Switzerland, which has a population of 7.5 million, are required to have health insurance, with the government paying insurance premiums for those who cannot afford it.

Parliament approved the heroin measure in a revision of Switzerland's narcotics law in March, but conservatives challenged the decision and forced a national referendum under Switzerland's system of direct democracy.

Jo Lang, a Green Party member of parliament from the central city of Zug, said he was disappointed in the failure of the marijuana measure because it means 600,000 people in Switzerland will be treated as criminals because they use cannabis.

"People have died from alcohol and heroin, but not from cannabis," Lang said.

The government, which opposed the marijuana proposal, said it feared that liberalizing cannabis could cause problems with neighboring countries.

On a separate issue, 52 percent of voters approved an initiative to eliminate the statute of limitations on pornographic crimes against children before the age of puberty.

The current Swiss statute of limitations on prosecuting pedophile pornography is 15 years. The initiative will result in a change in the constitution to remove that time limit.

Comments

[Itsmyland2]

Legalize it all and tax the hell out of it. It would reduce crime, lower the national debt, and if abusers kill themselves with it thats just natural selection in action.

[olephart]

You mean to say that they are treating an addiction as a medical/psychological condition rather than a law enforcement problem? That would never work here. The DEA's budget alone is over $20 billion. Local law enforcement budgets, prison guards and the construction of new jail cells are at least that much. Now if we add in the huge legal costs of both prosecuting and defending addicts (public defenders) we're talking about some big bucks. And remember, the crime associated with purchasing expensive illegal narcotics runs into the 100s of billions. Just do the math, steal a $20,000 car, sell it to a chop shop for $200 to buy a day's supply of heroin. Legalizing heroin would make its cost about $10 per day. All in all it's over 2% of our total GDP. There's no way that the entrenched interests would allow this to happen.

[levelshot]

I love the way the US thinks: Do the opposite of works and produces positive results. I'm sorry, but my countrymen are reeetaaarded.

[Yves Papa]

Please dispatch a team of counselors to the DEA, and have EMR teams ready, there will be a lot of cases of apoplexy tomorrow morning.

[J242]

Are you kidding me? "We'll legalize heroin Marijuana? That's just wrong because we're "afraid of the signals it might send to neighboring countries" so we'll spend billions fighting something which we can NEVER beat..."

What is wrong with people? How about instead of legalizing smack you just drop it to a misdemeanor which can be tossed out of court if a "addict" status can be applied and you treat them as sick people who need help? It's not f'ing rocket science! Also, THC has NEVER killed a single person and has been proven to help those suffering withdrawals from other substances, be a medication for the terminally (and not even remotely terminal) ill and so much more.

I don't smoke it, I don't enjoy the high however to ignore the positive benefits of it is simply ridiculous!!!

[Jellinek]

Indeed - I am recovering and share your opinion more or less. I did smoke and I did enjoy it and I miss it. However, it was going to kill me period. So what to do? Well, that's a bit of a problem in our culture. A lot of people are too closed minded to see things any other way. You see - the axiom "nothing changes until the price of things staying the same is too high" applies to America " pretty much. A lot of people in this country are a) too ignorant of the fact that addiction is a disease and unwilling to learn, b) comfortable with paying out the behind for the plethora of social, medical and legal problems addiction creates or c) are addicted themselves and in denial and profit from the trade in some way or another. Naturally there's items d) e) f) g) h) and . . . to argue.

On the other hand if the word hope was to become more prevalent perhaps even a staple - in our national lexicon, addicts might start to recover without the stigma that shame, myth, ignorance and hatred stifles them with. We all saw how hope made a difference in this last election in helping sequester the diseased right-wing - it can work with drugs and alcohol too if it is given a chance.

Just speak the word - hope and things change.

[nolabels]

America's war on drugs is a joke. It wastes money in a time when we don't have money to spare.
As with this incredibly backwards thinking on things like the passage of prop 8 in CA, we will all look back on our criticism of such programs and as others have discussed on this thread, the criminalization of marijuana and feel like fools for fighting natural progress. Gay people will be freely married in America. People will be allowed to openly smoke weed. Drug abusers will be treated as people with an illness and not criminals. Why not do these things immediately? If we want to truly call ourselves moral, we would change these laws tomorrow.

[DK6400Brian]

My hat's off to the Swiss people.
Forthcoming and a serious approach is the way of dealing with problems in order to make any progress.

I come to wonder if the reason for not having these issues on referendum elsewhere is proportional with the fear inside some politicians, of the voice of the people, and that they really do not know how to handle the situation.

[Bitsko]

Is that heroin in the front page photo or halvah?

[Yves Papa]

Expensive halvah. Anyone have an idea how much is that loaf worth?

[LMPE]

Will this prompt people to forgive Switzerland for that Nazi gold?

[Twinkie]

Pfft, there are plenty of countries who've done business with organisations as bad as the nazis. Britain, USA, Russia, France ... and lots more

[darthdarcy]

Looks like peanut butter and chocolate fudge I had a while back...!

Wait oh no, don't tell me...

I'll have to report that candy store right away, and she was such a sweet old lady too..

Sellin heroin disguised as fudge....for only $6.00 bucks a pound too, that's how they get you hooked I bet..!

[Bitsko]

lmfao!

[zizyphus]

More people are addicted to fudge, worldwide, than to heroin. Fudge, and its precursor, sugar, are the original "gateway" drugs.

[RealityBaseCamp]

Hey, gotta watch strangers with candy . . . (not the show, it's not on any more)

Note: the specific type and amount of heroin shown in the photo has not been legalized. Desserts resembling it do not require a prescription. Even if somebody says they're to die for.

[Liberalrep1980]

There are a million reasons to legalize marijane and like two not to legalize. There are over a hundred uses for the plant itself, from making paper which is cheap and easy to recycle too making oil. Yeh, oil, power, energy. Those things this countries needs. Not too mention there are numerous medicinal uses for it. From AIDS patients, eye sight issues, even chronic headaches are cured by it. I said chronic, rofl. I have never heard of a high person running over someone even though that one commercial was made, it made me laugh. I don't hear about a bunch of guys getting high and getting into bar room brawls as they do with booze. Sorry, you old scared people need to do some research. The only bad thing I have heard of about pot is that if smoked on a long term it will effect your testis. Yeh, the male luggage so to speak. Other than that, haven't heard a thing. Also I find it funny that when I was in middle school, it science boks, it is listed as a hallucanagenic. Please.

[goodog]

You're confusing marijuana with hemp. Inustrial hemp contains only trace amounts of THC, and it's legally imported into the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemp

[DotCalm]

you make some wonderful (and funny) points. i too cannot imagine what all the fear is about pot, ahem, marijuana, as it is so helpful and has so many uses - albeit untapped because of what must be some pretty fierce lobbies against them (paper companies, oil companies, yeah they have lobbyists ....)

the only time you ever hear of alcohol being good for something medicinally is in a british pub when grandma says she should have a guiness a day for her heart condition. the red wine lobby does a good job of promoting a glass a day for women for a healthy heart. yeah, right, like me or any woman i know has JUST ONE GLASS, heh

[Twinkie]

I'm a toker who DOESN'T want it legalized. Sure for non-THC carrying types for making fabric and clothes, but not for any other type. Have you ever been to Amsterdam? It's a hole, full of wastoids. I like my thrills to be illegal, makes it more exciting that way.

[dutchman]

I think you've misjudged Amsterdam. I've lived there for the last 3 years and find it to be one of the world's prettiest and civilized cities. If it's the Red Light District you're talking about, you're right - I wouldn't take my kids there. But it's a freakin' Red Light District, not Disneyland. The rest of the city is as lovely as they come, and I don't think I've ever felt safer - anywhere.

If you believe the Dutch statistics - and I do - Holland has a far smaller drug problem than almost any other Western country in terms of the percentage of the indigenous population that imbibes. And that's why it is the way it is. The Dutch are less tolerant than they are pragmatic.

The biggest challenge the Dutch face - as referenced in the article - is that a lot of foreigners (read Brits and Americans) go there to take advantage of the coffee shops. Go to any coffee shop and the vast majority of the patrons won't be Dutch. If surrounding countries decriminalized their soft drugs, half of Holland's coffee shops would go out of business.

One last point - I live very close to a coffee shop in one of the nicer neighborhoods (the so-called "Canal Belt") - and it makes for a much better neighbor than any bar. Sure, there's some giggling and wandering onto bike paths, but no fights, no loud music and no vomiting. After living in London for two years,

[Twinkie]

Forgot to mention, from personal experience, it also effects your memory pretty badly. Which becomes a real problem as you get older. And really good stuff IS hallucinogenic, you've obviously never had truly good w33d my friend.

[DotCalm]

jeez easy man - you'll make the "dispensaries" in california go out of business

[J242]

You've just had stuff that's laced then. THC itself has NO psycho-active properties involving hallucinations of any of the five senses. Do some research before speaking further unless you only intend to show an even further lack of education.

[J242]

Secondly, I'm an Alaskan state resident. I've had MTF (Matanuska Thunder F***k) which is judged to have the highest THC pound of any pot grown in the world. Guess what? It doesn't cause hallucinations. You have either been stuff that is laced -OR- are just pulling this out of your @$$... You were probably just trying to be cool, "Woah, like I'm seeing stuff man!" and made it all up in your head.

[SOLERSO68]

Prohibition dosent work. This program is what a drug prevention/ reduction program looks like. What we have in america "the war on drugs" is a compromise made in hell between those who are making money on it (dealers of drugs and purveryors of police weapons and technology, and private prisons) and those who benefit from it politicaly (politicians, mayors, police commisioners drug czars, presidents of the united state governors, etc.,) 4 million Americans are in imprisoned inthe united states, more per capita than ANY OTHER nation, including china, Iran, North Korea, Russia, Argentina, all of them. And more than half of them are for recidivist, and first time, non -violent drug offenses. Private Prisons hire Lobyists (such as Michelle Bernard) to lobby for mandatory minimum sentences and three strikes type laws, because more people in prison means more corporate profit. all the while the public is sold on a "war on drugs" which is unwinnable, and which they never plan to win because its too profitable and keep large numb ers of the poor controlled behind bars. Meanwhile artonomicaly high drug profits mean there will never be a shortage. Drugs have NEVER been more plentiful, after 30 years of "the drug war". end it now.

[greyseal in tampa]

I keep thinking that's a picture of tiramisu.

[1manisland]

Come on ! Anybody can tell that is marble pound cake !

[preemptivelove]

i thought it was halvah.

[darthdarcy]

So when is Kieth Richards moving to Switzerland..?

[Bitsko]

Keith Richards is living?

[txcowboy77]

HIs heart is still pumping. The porch light doesnt burn very brightly.

[Steamboater]

Guess those staid Swiss aren't so uptight after all. They've always a lot of good sense anyway.

[skyfrequency]

Let's see, the argument against legalizing marihuana is that it will lead to harder drugs, like heroin. So the Swiss voted against legalizing pot, because where it is legal in the Netherlands, all the people just go there to smoke. The Swiss say we'll just legalize heroin and eliminate pot as that first step to addiction. I'd say their ideas are a lot like their cheese.

[Aargauer]

What the Swiss voted for was not a wide-spread legalization of heroin. What they voted for was a program to assist addicts. And the Swiss will tell you that they understand the limitations of such a program, but they are not willing to marginalize and turn their backs on their countrymen and women in the grips of such a debilitating illness.

It's sad that even as America tries to convince the rest of the world that it is the beacon of hope and compassion, it typically fails on both counts.