Hard drugs: does prohibition do more harm than good?

In Switzerland, crack consumption is on the rise. Cities like Zurich have been battling open drug scenes since last year, and in French-speaking Switzerland, consumption has tripled since 2020.

“In the past it was opiates, other substances that were used more frequently, like heroin. Now it’s crack. Consumers are hyperactive, very stressed, excited. Unfortunately, we are witnessing scenes of aggression and violence, especially in public places where people gather to consume,” explains José Di Stefano in an RSI article.External link.

What this manager of a day center in Lugano says – a structure which welcomes around 40 dependent people every day and treats 140 other people on an outpatient basis – echoes the testimonies of consumers who describe their dismay in the face of this substance. “We have the feeling of never having enough and that’s the problem: people always, always, always, always want more…” explains Nils on the RTS show CQFD.

Controlled distribution of cocaine

For some time now, experts have been encouraging Switzerland to rethink and adapt its drug policy. This summer, the Federal Commission for Issues Related to Addiction and the Prevention of Noncommunicable Diseases (CFANT) followed suit. It calls for innovative approaches to limit the supply and visibility of crack in the public sphere. “People who use crack several times a day enter a vicious cycle of supply and consumption,” explains Christian Schneider, vice-president of CFANT.

For the strategic analyst of the Zurich cantonal police, additional and easily accessible places (contact points and places of retreat) are needed for these drug addicts who barely sleep, eat, drink and neglect themselves. Or exhausted and sleeping 24 hours a day.

Given the successful distribution of heroin in recent decades, the controlled distribution of cocaine to seriously addicted people is also on the agenda. However, there is virtually no research on this and experts are divided.

Watch the SRF report on the arguments for and against the controlled distribution of cocaine:

Adaptation of drug policy

Swiss drug policy, which aims to reduce drug consumption and its negative consequences for users and society, is based on four pillars: prevention, therapy, risk reduction and repression.

A system that must be adapted according to Ruth Dreifuss, member of the Global Commission on Drug Policy. In order to resolve the problems linked to the sale and consumption of crack, the former federal councilor recommends getting drug addicts out of their situation through support and emancipation approaches.

Watch the interview with Ruth Dreifuss carried out by RTS:

What do you think? Does banning hard drugs do more harm than good? Join the discussion on the multilingual debate platform “Dialogue”.

Psychedelics in therapy

While crack cocaine and its effects on addicts and society fuel the debate over how to deal with hard drugs, another discussion revolves around another group of drugs: psychedelics, as an article in SWI explains.

By 2024, psychedelics are legal or decriminalized in 23 countries. Switzerland has a long history with such drugs, since LSD was discovered in Basel in 1938. Along with the United States, Canada and Australia, Switzerland is a world leader in the field of therapy and psychedelic research.

Since 2014, patients in Switzerland have been able to receive psychedelics as a last resort under “compassionate use”. So far, however, Geneva University Hospitals is the only place in the country that offers safe psychedelic treatment in a significant medical setting.

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Translated from German by Didier Kottelat/cm