Au cœur de l’innovation radicale en matière de politiques des drogues en Suisse

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Au cœur de l’innovation radicale en matière de politiques des drogues en Suisse

29 juillet 2019

Dans les années 1980, la Suisse a reconnu l’échec des politiques répressives en matière de drogues et a mis en œuvre des programmes de réduction des risques. Cet article rend compte de ce qui a été appris de cette expérience. Pour en savoir plus, en Anglais, veuillez lire les informations ci-dessous.

In 1961, the United Nations adopted the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, a treaty aimed at combatting drug abuse through coordinated international action. The accord seeks to prohibit the use, trade, and production of certain drugs except for medical and scientific purposes, and to combat drug trafficking. Yet despite efforts like this, failed interventions and policies, as well as human rights violations related to drug use, have continued to stand in the way of progress at the local, national, and global levels. We have much more to do to confront the many harms that drugs inflict on health, development, peace, and security, in all regions of the world.

Still, there have been some wins along the way—including in Switzerland. Between 1991 and 2010, overdose deaths in the country decreased by 50 percent, HIV infections decreased by 65 percent, and new heroin users decreased by 80 percent. Today, the so-called “four-pillar model” that guides Swiss drug policy—prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and law enforcement—is internationally recognized as a major step in redefining how to tackle narcotic drugs.

Yet while scholars and practitioners have drawn lessons on public health, public order, and public policy from this partial success, few have considered how it might inform the process of social innovation. Building on a review of scholarly literature, press coverage, film material, reports by civil society organizations, and other literature on Swiss drug policy, we analyzed texts that offered insights into the country’s development of new approaches. In the process, we identified five main factors that drove success, and that may help other leaders of social change think about and improve their own innovation processes.