SWISS VOTERS REJECT LEGALISATION OF HEROIN AND OTHER NARCOTICS

Swiss voters yesterday threw out proposals to legalise consumption of
heroin and other narcotics.

Some 74% of voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that the
consumption, cultivation or possession of drugs, and their acquisition for
personal use, is not punishable.

Around 26% - or 454,404 people - voted in favour.

The Swiss electorate is summoned to the polls three or four times a year
over a huge range of subjects - new corn laws and labour legislation were
also voted on yesterday. Turnout was 37%.

Last year the Swiss recorded a world first in voting overwhelmingly in
favour of state distribution of heroin to hardened addicts. But they
baulked at the prospect of a drugs free-for-all. The government opposed the
plan, saying it was a health risk and would turn Switzerland into a haven
for drug tourists and traffickers and anger neighbouring European countries.

It said its current policy of helping hardcore addicts while clamping down
on dealers was the best way ahead.

Church groups, police chiefs, social workers, doctors and other
professionals working with addicts held similar views.

Felix Gutweiler, a pioneer of the heroin distribution program, said the
outcome clearly showed that the Swiss population rejected extreme solutions
to the drug problem.

The pro-legalisation lobby, a loose left-wing coalition which gathered the
necessary 100,000 signatures to force a referendum, claimed it would stamp
out trafficking and the black market.

Backers hoped that sufficient votes in their favour would convince the
government to relax laws on soft drugs like cannabis.

Switzerland has an estimated 30,000 hard drug addicts in its population of
7 million, one of Europe's highest rates. A government survey published
last week showed a rise in cannabis consumption.

It revealed that 27% of people aged 15-39 said they had smoked cannabis at
least once, compared with 16% in 1992.

To the government's relief, voters gave the go-ahead to a finance package
to link Switzerland to Europe's high-speed train network and build two
Alpine rail tunnels.

Checked-by: Richard Lake