Swiss Approve Pioneering Legal Heroin Program
A pioneering Swiss program to give addicts government-authorized heroin was overwhelmingly approved Sunday by voters who simultaneously rejected the decriminalization of marijuana.
Parliament approved the heroin measure in a revision of Switzerland’s narcotics law this past March, but conservatives challenged the decision and forced a national referendum under Switzerland’s system of direct democracy.
The United States and the U.N. narcotics board have criticized the program as potentially fueling drug abuse, but other governments have started or are considering their own programs modeled on the system.
The aim is to help the addicts learn how to function in society, with counseling from psychiatrists and social workers.
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.”
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