Government keen to roll out eased heroin distribution rules

Under the eased rules, some addicts could take home a week's worth of doses in the form of tablets. Keystone / Ennio Leanza

Swiss authorities want to prolong the more lenient rules for controlled heroin distribution which were put in place during the pandemic.

A spokesman from the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) confirmed on Wednesday that procedures introduced in 2020 could be continued, with the government planning a reform of the lawExternal link on Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances.

Social distancing rules to tackle the coronavirus in 2020 meant that the normal heroin distribution procedure – whereby addicts physically visit a centre twice daily – became more difficult. The rules were thus eased to allow addicts deemed stable and healthy to take home up to seven days of doses in the form of tablets.

More than two years later, an evaluation by health authorities has judged the method to have been a positive experience, the FOPH spokesman told the Keystone-SDA news agency, confirming a report by public radio SRF.

Experts from the addiction sector, including Thilo Beck, Chief Physician at the Paracelsus Recovery centre in Zurich, were also enthusiastic.

“Addicts said they had more time care for themselves and to be present for their families. They were also better able to reconcile [their heroin consumption] with their professional activities,”, Beck told SRF. He added that his centre noted no “incidents” or overdoses as a result of the change.

The idea of allowing institutions like hospitals, prisons, and old-age homes to distribute heroin – another practice introduced during the pandemic – is also to be included in the proposed revision.