Shifting from an illegal-drug policy to a psychoactive substance policy

Abstract

At present, the question of drug policy is not on the public agenda in Switzerland. Since the introduction of a bill for the revision of the Federal Narcotics Act (BetmG) was rejected by the National Council in the summer of 2004, the topic has barely made the headlines. Political actors appear to be at a loss as to what should be done next. Although efforts are being made to salvage at least the uncontroversial elements of the unsuccessful plans to revise the legislation, this is not suffi cient from the perspective of public health. From this viewpoint, the aim should be to defi ne harm and benefi ts across the entire spectrum of psychoactive substance use, and to pursue a policy designed to reduce the unavoidable harm as far as possible, both for the individual and for society. In fact, however, the consumption patterns of a substantial proportion of the population – irrespective of their potential to cause harm – continue to be regarded as unlawful and hence punishable. In addition, the law is largely unenforceable. The gulf between illegal and legal use of psychoactive substances remains unchanged. Apart from the public health concerns, the credibility of state institutions is damaged by the lack of coherence in the existing regulations. The Swiss Federal Commission for Drug Issues (EKDF) has now issued a report outlining fundamental principles for a future Swiss policy on substance abuse. Rather than offering solutions that could be implemented in the short term, the report adopts a mediumto long-term perspective. It seeks to present options for the future management of psychoactive substances in Switzerland. The social changes seen in recent decades have given rise to new consumption patterns for both illegal and legal psychoactive substances, creating a need for a fundamental review of substance abuse policy. In Switzerland as well as in other, comparable countries, the shift in values that occurred in the latter half of the twentieth century has produced a pluralistic culture of individual development and experience. In this type of culture, a wide variety of value-systems coexist. New habits of consumption have arisen among different segments of the population, and the future will certainly bring even more profound changes. Increasingly, there will be a blurring of the boundaries between the medically indicated use of mental health medicines, recreational use of psychoactive substances and efforts to enhance cognitive performance with the aid of drugs. In this situation, it is hardly possible to reach a social consensus on the “correct” management of psychoactive substances. There is thus no alternative to a non-judgemental substance abuse policy that strives for pragmatic solutions. These acknowledge that the use of psychoactive substances answers a human need which is manifested in different forms in every culture of the past and present. The goal can then only be to fi nd ways of managing psychoactive substances which – bearing in mind the motives for the various forms of consumption – are designed to reduce harmful consequences for the individual and for society. New approaches to this question are also being sought in other countries. The EKDF report presents a series of recommendations, calling in particular for the development of guiding principles for substance abuse policy to provide a basis for future