SWISS REJECT PROPOSAL TO LEGALIZE DRUGS

ZURICH, Switzerland (CNN) -- Swiss voters on Sunday rejected a sweeping
proposal to legalize narcotics, including everything from marijuana to
heroin.

Backers of the controversial proposal said it would eliminate the drug
mafia, while critics declared it would isolate Switzerland as a drug haven.

The bold initiative fell short when it failed to carry a majority of Swiss
states, the Swiss SDA news agency reported.

An exit poll by Swiss state broadcaster DRS found voters were against the
ambitious plan by 3-1.

The plan would have made Switzerland the only country where anyone age 18
or older could buy narcotics of their choice, including heroin, from
state-run outlets or pharmacies after consultation with a physician.

The proposal had been widely expected to fail, as do most policy ideas put
up by citizens for a national referendum under the Swiss system of direct
democracy.

Judge: Current Law 'Counterproductive'

But supporters hoped that a sizable minority in favor of the plan could
push Swiss legislators to further relax a drug policy that is already among
the most liberal in Europe.

They say drug prohibition has failed to stop the supply, instead creating a
black market with no health standards and high prices that force addicts
into stealing or prostitution to buy drugs.

Launched by a committee of drug experts, doctors and lawyers, the
referendum proposal was backed by leftist politicians and youth chapters of
conservative parties in the Swiss government center-right coalition.

"Based on my long-suffering experience as a judge, I must acknowledge that
the treatment of narcotics delinquency by the criminal justice system has
obviously been a gigantic and very expensive waste of effort," Peter
Albrecht, a Basle judge and professor, wrote in the Neue Zuercher Zeitung.

"The existing law is really counterproductive because it hinders the
protection of public health and creates an enormous amount of procurement
crime (for buying drugs)," he said.

Critics of the initiative said Switzerland is already doing well with its
policy of providing heroin for severe addicts and expanding addiction
treatment programs.

Critics Feared Becoming Drug Hub

"Switzerland would become a storage and transit country for drug dealers,"
Valentin Roschacher, chief investigator at the Federal Office of Police
Affairs, said last week.

"The backers of this initiative say let's liberalize drug consumption, then
the drug mafia will disappear as there would be no more market," said Jean
Ziegler, a member of the Swiss Parliament. "Secondly, they say that it will
be easier to control the quality of heroin and cocaine. I think these are
illusions."

Initial results from another referendum on Sunday's ballot showed voters
seemed set to approve spending nearly $22 billion to build a network of
tunnels through the Alps.

The project, to be completed over 20 years, would ease rail traffic and
help clinch passage of bilateral economic accords with the European Union.

Checked-by: Richard Lake