Posted on 11/30/2008 9:18:27 AM PST by definitelynotaliberal
A pioneering Swiss program to give addicts government-authorized heroin was overwhelmingly approved Sunday by voters who simultaneously rejected the decriminalization of marijuana.
Sixty-eight percent of voters approved making the heroin program permanent. It has been credited with reducing crime and improving the health and daily lives of addicts since it began 14 years ago.
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 legalizing marijuana was a bad idea.
"I think it's very important to help these people, but not to facilitate the using of drugs. You can just see in the Netherlands how it's going. People just go there to smoke," Borer said.
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 government, which opposes the marijuana proposal, said it feared that liberalizing marijuana could cause problems with neighboring countries.
"This could lead to a situation where you have some sort of cannabis tourism in Switzerland because something that is illegal in the EU would be legal in Switzerland," government spokesman Oswald Sigg told The Associated Press.
The heroin program is offered in 23 discreet centers across Switzerland, which offer a range of support to nearly 1,300 addicts who haven't been helped by other therapies. Under careful supervision, they inject doses carefully measured to satisfy their cravings but not enough to cause a big high.
Health insurance pays for the bulk of the program, which costs 26 million Swiss francs ($22 million) a year. All residents in Switzerland are required to have health insurance, with the government paying insurance premiums for those who cannot afford it.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
No, Romney’s socialist forced health insurance plan was conservative socialism, not this liberal Swiss kind of socialism. Just ask any Romney supporter on FR.
You let people put holes in your cheese...
Next thing you know they're sticking needles in their arms.
And that’s what the conservative politician said - ‘damage limitation’, I believe, is what she called it. The article also said that they give the addicts just enough to satisfy a craving, not enough to get high, or something like that. I don’t know much about drug abuse.
I posted the article only because I thought the last article was interesting. I don’t much care about junkies, Swiss or otherwise.
Actually, I did support Romney in the primaries ;-) I appreciated that he had faults, but he was a whole heck of a lot more palatable to me than Senator The-American-people-want-an-honorable-campaign Stand-up-and-fight, my friends. I would also like to see governors try things in their states and bring the things that work with them to Washington.
I can’t find fault with anyone who supported Romney when it came down to McCain vs Romney, though I didn’t see much of a difference between them.
It’s the people who tried to push him on us prior to that who are the reason we ended up with that choice between two RINO losers.
Touche’
Switzerland has had a big heroin problem for a long time. Maybe the biggest problem in all of Europe.
Seriously, does anyone know why?
Seriously, does anyone know why?
Good question. I know the UK has a the highest level of alcoholism in the EU and one of the highest in the world, most particularly among females.
Could both be a case of "stranded on the shores of Utopia"?
End the failed drug war.
There some real promise in this program. The new US socialists may come to love the idea of creating a national health care program designed to use the funds for perpetuating heroin addiction. And, one day, when a desk riding bureaucrat confronts the decision between authorizing life-saving medical care, surgery or more skag for the pet junkies...
“A pioneering Swiss program to give addicts government-authorized heroin was overwhelmingly approved “
This is discrimination! All citizens should have the right to government provided heroin, not just addicts. I see the Swiss have no clue when it comes to equality.
I don't think they had higher heroin use or abuse as other countries.
According to this article they were equal to the use of some other countries in the 90's but have since decreased heroin use 86% compared to that baseline.
From studying the needle parks and other Swiss tactics on drug use issues I think they look at the issue along pragmatic and monetary lines.
Addicts cost a lot of money. They feel it is better to spend money to educate non-users of the health risks and to keep current adddicts healthy and functioning in society.
It may be that because of the needle park experiments which drew addicts from all over Europe that they appeared to have or have had a large heroin abuse problem.
Here is a one report with their consensus of the worst drug countries overall.
This article claims Norway was the worst heroin abuse country in Europe, but that was in 2002. Most reports I see now name the UK as the worst in Europe for overall drug problems. Perhaps that is for heroin as well.
“From studying the needle parks and other Swiss tactics on drug use issues I think they look at the issue along pragmatic and monetary lines.”
It’s way past time we started looking at this as a medical issue and not a moral one.
I have relatives who have had problems with substance abuse, and it’s difficult for them to get the help they need as long as it’s handled as some sort of moral failure, i.e., they are told it’s just a lack of self control. Self control is only a part of it, not the whole thing.
Any way that we can keep families together and help these people instead of just throwing them into jails would benefit society tremendously.
They decided to put their drug war money into education. They don't want the crime and disease that comes with the drug culture.
They learned through the needle parks that crime and disease would form inside the colony even with easy access to drugs. It is just part of the scene, so to speak.
If they can keep people off drugs and provide those who are already addicted a healthier alternative to their problem they will keep the total cost of the drug war lower.
I wish all the best for your relatives.
“Notice that the article says that while they are keeping the heroin clinics open, the Swiss also voted to keep marijuana illegal.”
Not sure what that means for the Swiss. Also, Massachusetts recently voted to make pot possession a non-criminal offense, just like a speeding ticket. Other places are probably going to follow Massachusett’s plan, with states looking to cut budgets wherever they can.
“They learned through the needle parks that crime and disease would form inside the colony even with easy access to drugs. It is just part of the scene, so to speak.”
That’s the part they are trying to avoid, so this new plan might work better.
“If they can keep people off drugs and provide those who are already addicted a healthier alternative to their problem they will keep the total cost of the drug war lower.”
Yep, giving addicts an alternative sounds like a good idea.
“It gets the rabble out of the “needle parks” but doesn’t change anything.”
I would think it might reduce theft from these people too who are the types that would probably be stealing, selling their bodies, or whatever to get high. They’ve been doing this for quite some time now. I wonder how many addicts in their program are getting in trouble for stealing, dealing and/or the other sorts of things junkies do to get the money for drugs?
there’s gotta be a link here somewhere...
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overwhelmingly approved Sunday by voters who simultaneously rejected the decriminalization of marijuana
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