SWISS VOTERS WILL DECIDE ON LEGALIZING DRUGS

GENEVA (AP) -- Marijuana, cocaine and heroin would all be legal in
Switzerland if a referendum to decriminalize drugs passes this Sunday.

The government opposes the plan, fearing it would turn the orderly Alpine
nation into a haven for drug tourists and traffickers. Also against it are
church groups, police chiefs, social workers, doctors and other
professionals who work with addicts.

But the left-wing coalition that gathered the necessary 100,000 signatures
for the referendum claims its passage would kill the street market in drugs.

The proposal would insert a clause into the constitution that ``the
consumption, cultivation or possession of drugs, and their acquisition for
personal use, is not punishable.''

No other European nation is contemplating such a sweeping move. Even in the
liberal Netherlands, all drugs are technically illegal. However, ``soft
drugs'' such as marijuana are decriminalized and Dutch authorities don't
prosecute people who sell or use small amounts.

Switzerland has an estimated 30,000 hard-drug addicts, one of Europe's
highest rates. In contrast to many other countries, the death toll is
falling -- from a peak of 399 in 1994 to 241 last year.

An experiment with government-authorized distribution of heroin to
long-term addicts began in 1994 and led to a huge cut in crime and death
associated with the hard-core scene.

In a referendum last year, the traditionally cautious Swiss overwhelmingly
voted for the experiment to be put on a permanent legal footing -- the
world's first -- and parliament approved it last month.

Seizures of hard drugs have not slackened in the run-up to Sunday's vote.
Last month, police carried out their biggest-ever raid on illegal cannabis
producers, seizing more than 5.8 tons of the plant with a street value
between $14.5 million and $21.7 million.

Checked-by: Richard Lake