Zurich Opiates Policy Appears to Change Stigma for Heroin Use
A 1991 policy for Zurich's heroin addicts appears to have "changed the image of heroin use as a rebellious act to an illness that needs therapy," according to researchers Carlos Nordt and Rudolf Stohler. The policy allowed for insurance covered methadone maintenance and safe places for addicts to use heroin. Researchers suggest that "Heroin seems to have become a `loser drug,' with its attractiveness fading for young people." This apparent success has led some to call for similar policies in the United Kingdom, where fatality rates from illicit drug use have outpaced all other European nations in the past decade.