PATIENTS NOT CRIMINALS: A MORE HUMANE AND EFFECTIVE APPROACH

Case Study One: Switzerland13

In response to severe and highly visible drug problems that developed across the country in the 1980s, Switzerland implemented a new set of policies and programs (including heroin substitution programs) based on public health instead of criminalization. The consistent implementation of this policy has led to an overall reduction in the number of people addicted to heroin as well as a range of other benefits. A key study14 concluded that:

“Heroin substitution targeted hard-core problematic users (heavy consumers) – assuming that 3,000 addicts represent 10 percent to 15 percent of Switzerland’s heroin users that may account for 30 percent to 60 percent of the demand for heroin on illegal markets. Heavily engaged in both drug dealing and other forms of crime, they also served as a link between wholesalers and users. As these hard-core users found a steady, legal means for their addiction, their illicit drug use was reduced as well as their need to deal in heroin and engage in other criminal activities.

The heroin substitution program had three effects on the drug market:

• It substantially reduced the consumption among the heaviest users, and this reduction in demand affected the viability of the market. (For example, the number of new addicts registered in Zurich in 1990 was 850. By 2005, the number had fallen to 150.)

• It reduced levels of other criminal activity associated with the market. (For example, there was a 90 percent reduction in property crimes committed by participants in the program.)

• By removing local addicts and dealers, Swiss casual users found it difficult to make contact with sellers.”

Case Study Two: United Kingdom15

Research carried out in the UK into the effects of their policy of diversion from custody into treatment programs clearly demonstrated a reduction in offending following treatment intervention. In addition to self-reports, the researchers in this case also referred to police criminal records data. The research shows that the numbers of charges brought against 1,476 drug users in the years before and after entering treatment reduced by 48 percent.

Case Study Three: The Netherlands16,17,18

Of all EU-15 countries, the percentage of people who inject heroin is the lowest in the Netherlands and there is no new influx of problematic users. Heroin has lost its appeal to the mainstream youth and is considered a ‘dead-end street drug’.
The number of problematic heroin users has dropped significantly and the average age of users has risen considerably. Large-scale, low-threshold drug treatment and harm reduction services include syringe access and the prescription of methadone and heroin under strict conditions.

Medically prescribed heroin has been found in the Netherlands to reduce petty crime and public nuisance, and to have positive effects on the health of people struggling with addiction. In 2001, the estimated number of people in the Netherlands dependent on heroin was 28-30,000. By 2008, that number had fallen to 18,000.
The Dutch population of opiate users is in the process of aging – the proportion of young opiate users (aged 15-29) receiving treatment for addiction has also declined.