Yet another study has claimed that liberalised drug laws are leading to a decline in the number of drug addicts.

This time, the news is out of Zurich and a massive fall in heroin users is being attributed to a liberalisation of the laws surrounding the drug’s use as well as the implementation of a medicalised drug provision strategy.

Addicts in Switzerland have been offered substitution treatment which is basically injecting heroin prescribed by a doctor in combination with other things like oral methadone and safe places to inject (“shooting galleries”) which also offer clean needles.

According to the study, these strategies have led to an 82% decrease in the amount of “new users” of heroin. The overall rate is slightly less impressive with a 4% decline per annum in overall addicts and the average length of addiction actually increasing.

No doubt this will be more fodder for the debate!

Indeed, proponents of drug liberalisation are already using the study to call for the same strategy to be tried in the UK.