26 States in switzerland

Switzerland is comprised of 26 states (cantons), each with its own constitution, parliament, government and court system as provided by the Federal Constitution. Switzerland has several ethnic and religious communities. German, French, Italian and Romansh are the four official languages. A majority of the roughly 7 million Swiss citizens speak German. Referenda are an integral part of Swiss democracy. A federal law can be put to a referendum if 50,000 citizens ask for one within 100 days of its publication. Understanding Switzerland’s political structure helps to understand its drug policy. It can be argued that Switzerland has 26 different drug polices, one for each canton and half-canton. This diversity is often overlooked. Likewise, the lessons learned from Swiss drug policy are often taken out of context. Drug war bureaucrats point to the failure of the short-lived “needle park” experiment in Zurich; reform advocates tout the proven benefits of the prescription heroin maintenance trials that replaced it.The recent history of Switzerland’s drug policy began in the late the 1960s with the increase in psychoactive drug use. The cantons developed a drug policy based on three approaches, namely:
the repression of drug use and trafficking;
prevention measures aimed at young people;
abstinence-based treatment (methadone maintenance, however, was already in use)
During the early 1980s, the HIV-AIDS epidemic hit many countries, including Switzerland. Public and social services were created to help protect injection drug users against HIV and AIDS. Needle exchange programs were set up and users were offered and encouraged to be vaccinated against hepatitis. The Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (SFOPH) supported many of these services and still does, arguing that they help prevent the spread of AIDS. However, the main focuses of Switzerland’s official drug policy remained prevention, therapy and law enforcement.In the 1990s, Switzerland introduced additional harm reduction measures to reduce the problems associated with drug use and enforcement as part of a new national drug strategy. This new strategy led to the creation of a fourfold approach. The role of the Confederation became more defined. Harm reduction reference materials, scientific data and training for professionals are provided to cantons, cities and private organizations. In 1991 the Swiss government adopted a program of federal measures to reduce the problems related to drug use, currently known as “ProMeDro” and based on the concept of harm reduction.