News (Media Awareness Project) - Australia: Swiss Experiment Halves Deaths And Wins Public |
| Title: | Australia: Swiss Experiment Halves Deaths And Wins Public |
| Published On: | 2001-08-10 |
| Source: | Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-25 11:27:18 |
SWISS EXPERIMENT HALVES DEATHS AND WINS PUBLIC SUPPORT
Heroin trials of the sort called for by the National Crime Authority have
been going on in Switzerland since 1994. They, and trials in The
Netherlands, are recognised for their radical measures to maintain and
rehabilitate drug offenders through injection room and heroin prescription
programs.
The programs were developed as last-resort measures after law enforcement
and the courts were deemed to have failed.
In the 1980s the Swiss cities of Bern and Zurich become known for their
"needle parks", escalating overdose deaths and related crime. It has been
claimed that the drug tests have been a waste of public money and
sanctioning heroin use.
However, heroin deaths more than halved between 1992 and 1998, and 71 per
cent of the Swiss population voted in a referendum in 1997 to continue the
program.The Swiss model has been adopted in The Netherlands and is being
considered in Greece.
The Chief Justice of the Queensland Supreme Court, Mr Paul de Jersey, said
in a recent conference paper: "The current initiatives in Switzerland
command apparently substantial public support, [which is] the result of
widespread public acceptance that desperately intractable drug addiction
demands a compassionate public response."
Australia has dealt with the problem through the courts, including the
one-year-old Parramatta drug court, specifically equipped to deal with drug
offenders. However, some lawyers and judges have found the legal system
inadequate. Whether representing or sentencing users, members of the legal
profession face the depressing reality of seeing many addicts cartwheel
through a system that does not adequately address the health problems of
addiction.
A former president of the NSW Law Society, Mr John North, said yesterday:
"Drugs are a problem I see every day in the legal system. We strongly
believe that such a trial is the lesser of the two evils. While we have
ever increasing penalties and other measures through the courts, this is
just pulling at the edges of the problem."
Heroin trials of the sort called for by the National Crime Authority have
been going on in Switzerland since 1994. They, and trials in The
Netherlands, are recognised for their radical measures to maintain and
rehabilitate drug offenders through injection room and heroin prescription
programs.
The programs were developed as last-resort measures after law enforcement
and the courts were deemed to have failed.
In the 1980s the Swiss cities of Bern and Zurich become known for their
"needle parks", escalating overdose deaths and related crime. It has been
claimed that the drug tests have been a waste of public money and
sanctioning heroin use.
However, heroin deaths more than halved between 1992 and 1998, and 71 per
cent of the Swiss population voted in a referendum in 1997 to continue the
program.The Swiss model has been adopted in The Netherlands and is being
considered in Greece.
The Chief Justice of the Queensland Supreme Court, Mr Paul de Jersey, said
in a recent conference paper: "The current initiatives in Switzerland
command apparently substantial public support, [which is] the result of
widespread public acceptance that desperately intractable drug addiction
demands a compassionate public response."
Australia has dealt with the problem through the courts, including the
one-year-old Parramatta drug court, specifically equipped to deal with drug
offenders. However, some lawyers and judges have found the legal system
inadequate. Whether representing or sentencing users, members of the legal
profession face the depressing reality of seeing many addicts cartwheel
through a system that does not adequately address the health problems of
addiction.
A former president of the NSW Law Society, Mr John North, said yesterday:
"Drugs are a problem I see every day in the legal system. We strongly
believe that such a trial is the lesser of the two evils. While we have
ever increasing penalties and other measures through the courts, this is
just pulling at the edges of the problem."
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