Suggestion of a new drug policy from Switzerland

The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) has been examining the development of a national health programme focused on issues related to substance abuse and addiction (ProMeDep). The aim of the study presented here was to enhance the debate by introducing an international dimension to the process. It is based on an analysis of the drugs and/or addiction measures plans in 19 countries and in the EU. It shows that policies and programmes share a number of common characteristics (detailed planning, global approach, priority to prevention, the importance of research, etc.), including the will to further link together, or to integrate the different elements (programmes, policies on illegal drugs, alcohol, tobacco, etc.) of public interventions in the field of addiction. On this last point the models of policy reform vary greatly - from expanding the field of prevention to the launching of a more general, inclusive strategy for addiction per se. As for the measures planned for addiction in this wider sense, they are particularly concerned with prevention and are more often related to illegal drugs and alcohol. To conclude, it would appear that the FOPH’s current reflections are compatible with the planning in hand in other nations, the modalities of which, however, do not lend themselves to providing a model that could be adopted ‘as is’ in Switzerland. On the other hand, it would appear that the development of a general conceptual and strategic framework should be the first stage towards improving public interventions in the field of substance abuse and addiction.

Paper to the topic: Discussions and conclusions