ReconsiDer Tidbits

 

Switzerland: a model for reducing "drug harm"
Strasbourg, 20.02.2001 -- Legal sanctions against drug possession and
use appear to have no effect whatsoever, says a report adopted today by
the Parliamentary Assembly's Social, Health and Family Affairs
Committee.

The drug policies of Council of Europe member states should instead
concentrate on the achievable goal of reducing "drug harm" -- a broader
concept which takes into account drug-related deaths, diseases and
crime.

In a draft recommendation, the committee commends the approach taken by
Switzerland, which has significantly reduced drug-related deaths since
1994 using controversial prevention and treatment programmes including
needle exchanges, injection rooms, heroin for severely addicted users,
and housing and employment programmes for addicts.

The United Kingdom and Sweden, on the other hand, rely mainly on severe
legal penalties for drug possession and use, despite evidence that this
approach lacks utility, the committee notes.

The report, by Paul Flynn (United Kingdom, SOC), concludes that until
reliable comparable data are available for a larger group of countries,
an objective assessment of the success or failure of different European
drug policies is almost impossible -- with the result that policy
continues to be made "in a vacuum". Standardisation of research and data
recording methods across Europe is therefore urgently required.

In the meantime, say the parliamentarians, states should adopt policies
which reflect awareness of a likely causal link between deprivation and
drug harm, as suggested by recent research from the United Kingdom.

The draft recommendation adopted by the committee will be debated by the
Parliamentary Assembly -- bringing together parliamentarians from all 43
Council of Europe member states -- later this year.

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