Drugs, Illegal or Otherwise Home > Business Guide > Table of Contents > Outside the law > Drugs
Most drugs are illegal in Switzerland, but attitudes
toward non-addictive drugs are changing.
The Federal Surgeon’s office recently declared that
they found ecstasy to be rather innocuous, somewhat
of a scandal for older Swiss who cannot tell
lysergic acid from methamphetamine.
Marijuana and its derivatives are enjoying a
boom nowadays in Switzerland, due to unclear
laws that permit the culture of this robust plant for
oil or medical purposes, and tolerate some shops
that sell its hemp by-products. From time to time, police will raid growers and shops to remind
people
that Zurich has no intention of becoming
Amsterdam—although marijuana may be soon
legalized for Swiss residents.
More disturbing is the heroin consumption
that had found its center at the Spitzplatz just
behind Zurich’s central station. For years an open
market for drugs was tolerated there until a crackdown
in 1992.
Current issues include the big competition
between traditional dealers and the new Kosovo
Albanian Mafia that now dominates 95% of the
market in some areas. This has driven prices down
and consequently reduced the traditional crimes
(burglary and mugging) associated with the search
for money to finance drug addict needs.
Some cantonal governments have tried methadone
and needle distribution programs to reduce
AIDS and to better monitor addicts. A federal vote
in 1999 approved this stance. |