Pubdate: Fri, 27 Nov 1998 Source: San Jose Mercury News (CA) Contact: http://www.sjmercury.com/ Copyright: 1998 Mercury Center SWISS VOTERS WILL DECIDE ON LEGALIZING DRUGS GENEVA (AP) -- Marijuana, cocaine and heroin would all be legal in Switzerland if a referendum to decriminalize drugs passes this Sunday. The government opposes the plan, fearing it would turn the orderly Alpine nation into a haven for drug tourists and traffickers. Also against it are church groups, police chiefs, social workers, doctors and other professionals who work with addicts. But the left-wing coalition that gathered the necessary 100,000 signatures for the referendum claims its passage would kill the street market in drugs. The proposal would insert a clause into the constitution that ``the consumption, cultivation or possession of drugs, and their acquisition for personal use, is not punishable.'' No other European nation is contemplating such a sweeping move. Even in the liberal Netherlands, all drugs are technically illegal. However, ``soft drugs'' such as marijuana are decriminalized and Dutch authorities don't prosecute people who sell or use small amounts. Switzerland has an estimated 30,000 hard-drug addicts, one of Europe's highest rates. In contrast to many other countries, the death toll is falling -- from a peak of 399 in 1994 to 241 last year. An experiment with government-authorized distribution of heroin to long-term addicts began in 1994 and led to a huge cut in crime and death associated with the hard-core scene. In a referendum last year, the traditionally cautious Swiss overwhelmingly voted for the experiment to be put on a permanent legal footing -- the world's first -- and parliament approved it last month. Seizures of hard drugs have not slackened in the run-up to Sunday's vote. Last month, police carried out their biggest-ever raid on illegal cannabis producers, seizing more than 5.8 tons of the plant with a street value between $14.5 million and $21.7 million. - --- Checked-by: Richard Lake