Ruth Dreifuss, who in 1999 was the first woman to hold the Swiss presidency, is the founder and president of the Global Commission on Drug PolicyExternal link. As Dreifuss told Swiss public radio, SRFExternal link, the commission wants “responsible state control, from production to consumption of drugs” but that the opposite is now the case. “It’s an unregulated market the hands of criminal groups.”
However, she is not convinced by the approach of US President Donald Trump, who called for a UN summit on drugs in September. The action plan supported by 120 countries was developed by the US alone, complains Dreifuss.
“President Trump has confirmed that repression should be the guideline,” Dreifuss told SRF, noting that there was no chance for other nations to weigh in on the plan. She suggested that some had gone along with it simply to keep the peace.
Dreifuss also criticized Trump’s drug policy as too black-and-white in its view of drug addicts. “According to this, drug users are bad people who don’t deserve any support. That’s a moralistic attitude,” said Dreifuss, who is calling for reform of the system, and sees progress in her work with the UN.
“When Switzerland introduced certain new treatment methods and harm reduction measures 25 years ago, like clean injection rooms, we were suspected of no longer complying with the conventions,” Dreifuss recalled. She says that today, many European and African countries are interested in these tactics.
Switzerland has a pragmatic, four-pronged approach to drug abuse: prevention, therapy, damage control, and control and repression.
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“The war against drugs has failed”
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The report, written by a high-profile panel including former Swiss cabinet minister Ruth Dreifuss, criticises the repressive approach in the US and calls for the legalisation of some drugs and an end to the criminalisation of drug users. Instead of prohibition, the commission recommends “regulation models of illicit drugs designed to undermine the power of…
‘Without the heroin programme I’d probably be dead’
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Switzerland has distributed heroin to addicts legally for the past 20 years. Around 1,500 people receive the drug under supervision.
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The misery of drug taking at the Platzspitz or “Needle Park”, located close to Zurich’s main station – caused a worldwide furore.
Switzerland’s 19 living ex-presidents: a world record
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Nineteen former Swiss presidents are still alive. What does this record say about the country’s political stability and leadership?
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