Swiss voters support heroin programme

THE world’s most comprehensive legalised heroin programme was given overwhelming support from Swiss voters.

But, at the same ballot, they rejected the decriminalisation of cannabis.

The heroin programme, started in 1994, is offered in 23 centres across Switzerland. It has helped eliminate scenes of large groups of drug users shooting up openly in parks that marred cities in the 1980s and 1990s and is credited with reducing crime and improving the health and daily lives of addicts.