CRIME IS KEY AS SWISS VOTE ON LEGALIZING HARD DRUGS

GENEVA -- The Swiss are voting Sunday on whether to legalize everything
from marijuana to heroin and cocaine, a measure that -- if passed -- would
give Switzerland the most sweeping decriminalization of drug use,
possession and production in Europe.

Government officials are warning that a yes vote could turn this tranquil
Alpine nation into a "paradise for the Mafia," and a magnet for "drug
tourists," attracted by readily available hard and soft drugs.

Proponents of the drug legalization initiative, led by a group of
Socialists and medical doctors, argue that it could break up Switzerland's
flourishing black market in drugs and save the country hundreds of millions
of dollars in law enforcement.

They propose to give every Swiss resident over 18 an electronic credit card
to withdraw a specified amount of drugs. The dosage would be set in
consultation with a doctor or other medical professional, but no
psychological or medical treatment would be mandated. Only those younger
than 18 would be required to see a drug counselor before receiving an
access card.

The card, explained a Zurich physician, David Winizki, an originator of the
concept, "would be like making a withdrawal from a bank cash terminal."

"The dose would be programmed in," he continued. "The consumer would run
the card with its magnetic strip through the machine and the drug store
would supply, for example, a gram of heroin for 12 Swiss francs." A gram of
heroin or cocaine now costs about $36 on the street and 12 Swiss francs
equals about $8.70.

Under the plan, a user could withdraw drugs daily, or up to one week's
supply, for an amount lower than current street rates. Winizki, who lives
near the area of Zurich once known as "Needle Park" for its gathering of
heroin addicts, said he began working on the idea in 1992 when he saw
"people dying every day from overdoses and hepatitis and that made me very
angry."

Opinion polls indicate that only about 40 percent of Swiss support the
liberalization idea. That would suggest passage is unlikely. But the drug
issue pervades Switzerland, where federal statistics count between 30,000
and 36,000 narcotics addicts, most of them using heroin.

Estimates indicate that 500,000 Swiss -- of a total population of 7 million
- -- routinely use cannabis, and initiative supporters believe that even if
their measure is defeated on Sunday, the widespread debate over it will
clear the way for legalization of cannabis.

A leading Swiss magazine, L'Illustre, found in a recent poll that even
among those polled who oppose Sunday's legalization initiative, 40 percent
would back the legal sale of cannabis for people over 18, and 51 percent
its sale for medical purposes.

Unlike other European countries that tolerate cannabis consumption,
Switzerland pursues and punishes it. Last year, four out of five arrests
were for marijuana and hashish use. Penalties range from one day to three
months in jail for second-time users, and up to three years for heavy
users, according to federal police.

Government officials say they fear that drug liberalization will eviscerate
their efforts to address Switzerland's serious drug problem. Figures from
the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon
suggest that drug use in Switzerland is among the highest in Europe,
eclipsed only by Italy, Spain and tiny Luxembourg in drug use per 1,000
adults.

Switzerland's drug problems were exposed when authorities experimented with
open access to drugs in Zurich beginning in 1989. When drug dealing and
violence escalated, Swiss officials abandoned the free needles and syringes
and began an experimental program to dispense heroin to a controlled group
of hard-core addicts. This controversial effort survived a ballot challenge
last year, when an unexpectedly high 71 percent endorsed it.

Federal officials say they fear, though, that legalization will make it
harder to curb hard drug use.

"Switzerland would become a paradise for the Mafia," said Thomas Zeltner,
who heads the federal health department.

The country would end up isolated from international crime-fighting
efforts, and money laundering would increase, said Valentin Roschacher, the
federal anti-drug chief. "You can't fight organized crime without
partners," he said in a telephone interview from the capital, Bern.

Zeltner noted that the number of new drug users was down, treatment was up
and overdose deaths, addict-related crime and new HIV cases also had
decreased markedly, and urged voters not to jeopardize such gains. The poll
by L'Illustre suggested support for Sunday's measure rested largely on the
belief that it would curb crime.

Checked-by: Richard Lake