Europe:
Swiss
Panel
Says
New
Drug
Policy
Should
Include
Alcohol,
Tobacco,
Opt
for
Pragmatism
5/27/05
A federal commission on drugs has recommended that Switzerland adopt a drug policy that includes alcohol and tobacco as well as illegal drugs. It also called for the application of the "four pillar" -- prevention, treatment, harm reduction, law enforcement -- policy to all drugs, including alcohol and tobacco. Only by doing so, said the commission, could Switzerland adopt a credible and coherent drug policy "that takes into account all psychoactive substances." "We need to get away from making moral judgments on drugs and behavior and opt for more pragmatism," said commission president Francois van der Linde in remarks reported by the Swiss news agency Swissinfo. Existing drug and public health legislation needs to be "harmonized," first of all to define which substances should be banned and which should be available to the public. Such a move would ensure that substances with similar health impacts are not treated differently under the law, as is currently the case, the commission said. The commission's findings were welcomed by Michel Graf, director of the Institute for the Prevention of Alcohol and Drug Addiction, which last month warned that nearly a million Swiss drank too much alcohol at least twice a month. "This is very good news. It is an approach that has been adopted for some time in the field of prevention," he told Swissinfo. "This is politically very courageous and dares to break a taboo. It recognizes that alcohol and tobacco are psychoactive substances like cannabis and other drugs." The commission's report and recommendations also won praise from Interior Minister Pascal Couchepin, who praised "the innovative approach taken by the authors of the report, who believe that it is better to combat addiction on a broad front rather than focus solely on the fight against drugs, whether they be illegal drugs, tobacco, alcohol or medication." Last year, the Swiss parliament failed to approve a government proposal to decriminalize cannabis, even though Switzerland has the highest cannabis use rates in Europe, with an estimated one-third of all adults using the drug. An earlier effort to decriminalize cannabis also failed. Switzerland's current drug law was passed in 1975, and, especially when it comes to cannabis, does not reflect Swiss social reality.
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