Often when talking about drug legalization I hear about how the Swiss tried it and in what was nicknamed “needle park” and what a mess it was. Junkies shooting up in public… fighting, throwing up… even dying in the park. They cite it as evidence that we need to continue our policy of prohibition.
What the pragmatic Swiss did was this: They realized that heroin addicts were a problem in Zurich and other Swiss cities. The Swiss like order and cleanliness and junkies nodding off in shop doorways and urinating on the steps of Swiss banks was a problem. They designated a park near the railroad station as a place where these IV drug users could go and do what they did unmolested by police.
Well it got them away from the downtown shops and banks but every IV drug user in Switzerland went there to score their drugs. Then it attracted junkies from other European countries as well. It became an uncontrollable mess in short order. Imagine if we had alcohol prohibition again and there was one park in your city designated as the only place where you could legally drink alcohol. How long would it take for every alcoholic in town to go there? Can you imagine what that park would be like in a month?
So realizing that the needle park idea was a dumb one but still understanding that arresting drug users hasn’t worked elsewhere in the world the Swiss tried another plan…heroin maintenance. They took the most addicted drug users they could find, people that had repeatedly failed treatment programs, and brought them to a clinic where they met with a doctor who examined them and gave them their dose of heroin. Soon a dose was found that satisfied their cravings but allowed them to function. They came to the clinic once or twice a day and shot up. After a year they evaluated the program. The results, according to World Health Organization* concluded:
(a) The health of participants improved.
(b) Illicit cocaine and heroin use declined greatly.
(c) Housing situation improved and stabilized- most importantly there were no longer any more homeless participants.
(d) Fitness for work improved considerably, those with permanent employment more than doubled from 14% to 32%.
(e) The number of unemployed fell by half (from 44% to 20%)
(f) A third of the patients that were on welfare, left the welfare rolls. But, others went on to welfare to compensate for their lost income from sales of drugs.
(g) Income from illegal and semi-legal activities decreased significantly, from 69% of participants to 10%.
(h) The number of offenders and offenses decreased by about 60% during the first 6 months of treatment.
(i) The retention rate was average for treatment programs. 89% over 6 months, and 69% over 18 months.
(j) More than half of the dropouts did so to switch to another form of treatment. 83 of the participants did so to switch to an abstinence-based treatment, and it is expected that this number will grow as the duration of individual treatment increases.
(k) There were no overdoses from drugs prescribed by the program.
There are currently some 1300 addicts in these programs around the country and, in addition to pharmaceutical heroin or cocaine they get therapy with a psychiatrist and counseling by social workers.
The aim is that the patients learn how to function in society. After two to three years in the program, one-third of the patients start abstinence-programs and one-third change to methadone treatment.
I remember talking to the chief of police for Zurich at that time and he told me that he spoke around the country against this program until he saw it in action. Now he speaks in favor of it and why not? Crimes committed by heroin addicts have dropped 60 percent since the program began in 1994.
Next Sunday the Swiss will have a referendum on whether or not to make the program permanent. Polling shows a 3 to 1 majority in favor.
Also on the ballot will be a law to make it legal to own and cultivate cannabis. According to official surveys, 28% of the Swiss aged between 15 and 39 have smoked cannabis.
“Out of a population of 7 million we have 600,000 users. The level of social acceptance is very high” said Sergio Savoia, president of the ‘Verdi Ticinesi’ and one of the political parties in favor of the new law.
The big Swiss cities and the German part of Switzerland are in favor while more rural and traditional areas are less enthusiastic. The majority of political parties are in favor of this law and it too is expected to pass.
Check back here after the voting and I’ll tell you the results.
* Source: Robert Ali, et al, (April 1999), Report of the External Panel on the Evaluation of the Swiss Scientific Studies of Medically Prescribed Narcotics to Drug Addicts, The World Health Organization.