European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 11, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Closer look Tom a a Quot a a a it a a a it a v a sgt a a a it it it la ?1 Quot a it t �?�38 it. A is Al new York times Switzerland s Raissez Faire attitude toward drugs has resulted in open air markets such As this one in Zurich. The Switzerland tourists Don t see has the stench of premature death 6 by Clare Nullis the associated press up me help me you pigs Quot Vera screamed hurling blindly through mud strewn with syringe wrappers in search of a heroin fix. Oblivious to the cries of the once pretty redhead running by Franz squatted beside the Muddy path looking for a vein in his obscenely scarred Young arms. Another deathly Pale teen Ager vomited into the slime. The abandoned Letten railway siding stinks of urine. It stinks of lost youth. It stinks of premature miserable death. Few tourists see this Side of Switzerland. A few Hundred Yards away a warm Breeze caresses Flowers in the neatly manicured gardens of the plat Spitz Park until two years ago the world s biggest scene for open tolerated drug use. It took a year and $700,000 to clean up and restore the Park including replacement of topsoil polluted by used syringes and human waste. Business is brisk on the nearby Barnho Strasse one of Europe s most expensive shopping streets. Tourists smile at the cuckoo clocks and lick their lips at displays of exquisite chocolate Zurich s Banks continue making their millions. % All May be Well on the Bohnhof Strasse but All is catastrophe in the once Lively District near the main railway station., every Day about 400 to 500 addicts some As Young As 1 a come to the area around the Letten railway Yard the former starting Point of a commuter and freight line that was replaced by a subway three years ago. Residents of Letten Tell of children who awake screaming from nightmares of being attacked by blood filled syringes of pregnant women who fear going to a prenatal Center near the siding of schoolchildren being offered free drugs to get them hooked of families moving out a 1 wire mesh fences surround nearby schools a familiar sight in new York but exceptional in Switzerland. The fences went up after potentially lethal syringes blood soaked tissues and used condoms were found in playgrounds. Pupils have demonstrated before parliament in Bern to show their disgust with daily harassment by dealers seeking vulnerable customers. In april about 400 business executives store workers children and women with toddlers held an unprecedented demonstration in Zurich blowing whistles to protest the open Sale and use of drugs and the filth and danger that creates. Switzerland s largest supermarket Chain micros donated the whistles. In one of the most serious and potentially costly challenges to drug. Policy micros has begun Legal action to Force the Zurich police chief to Stop the open use of drugs and intends to sue the City Council for the equivalent of $4.3 million. Micros said turnover in its Mega store just across the Zimmat River formerly a showpiece declined 15 percent last year and shoplifting doubled. Security guards with dogs now protect the store. Company officials estimate the additional costs of Security and cleaning up Graffiti from drug users at $1.4 million in 1993. Quot what is happening in Letten is unworthy of a modern state Quot said Emilie Lieberherr who headed the City s social services Agency for 24 years. At its Peak As a drug scene plat Spitz attracted about 4,000 addicts a Day. It was closed in. February 1992 because of local pressure and International publicity but police efforts to rein in the open drug scene have failed. Sweeps of the Letten area Send the addicts scattering but they return As soon As the police Are gone. Quot our priority is not to penalize addicts but to Cut Down the dealing Quot police spokesman Walter Cehr Ger said Quot but it s an illusion. There Are too Many dealers and too Many Vera seemed past caring about life or death. Her pock marked face screwed up in an ugly Grimace and she hissed Quot for Christ s Sake i need something anything. At least give me a a Swiss Experiment with Liberal drug policy by the associated press / Switzerland is experimenting with controlled distribution of heroin As a Way of coping with the drug problem and the health ministry describes initial results As promising. In a three year test program about 700 hard Core drug abusers out of the country s estimated 30,000 addicts will receive daily doses of heroin or morphine at nominal Cost. Others Are Given methadone a heroin substitute. A a with the controlled distribution we want to free people from the horrendous dependence on organized crime their own criminality and prostitution a Interior minister Ruth Dreifuss said in a newspaper interview. Switzerland is among the most Liberal nations in its approach to drug addiction and led the Way in free Needle Exchange programs to combat aids. The government Hopes that if addicts can Lead a a Normal lives without the pressure of having to find the next fix they will be Able to integrate into society and overcome psychological reasons for their addiction. Philippe Lehmann in charge of drug policy at the health ministry. Said the number of drug deaths declined to 353 last year Down from 419 in 1992. Aids deaths totalled 187, Down from 260 the year before. To qualify for the test program an addict must have a history of at least two years of heavy drug use and two failed attempts at therapy. The Experiment is based on similar programs in Liverpool England and Canberra Australia. Fit Swiss drug users give themselves heroin injections in a Basel drug House. Monday july 11, 1994 the stars and stripes 15
