Britain Urged to Relax Drug Laws

British officials are being urged to consider relaxing drug laws and prescribing heroin to treat a growing national drug problem.

The Independent reported that drug charities have called for Britain to abandon its harsh approach, after Switzerland reported a massive decline in drug abuse with the liberalization of drug policies a decade ago. Switzerland offers addicts treatment — with prescription injectable heroin, oral methadone and shooting galleries where addicts can get their fix, the newspaper said.

Researchers say the outcome resulted from a new clinical image of heroin, associating it with routine, drudgery and illness. The drug has lost its rebellious, glamorous image, experts say.

Finally, heroin seems to have become a loser drug, with its attractiveness fading for young people, said Carlos Nordt of the Psychiatric University Hospital in Zurich.

The British journal The Lancet, which published the research, accuses the British government of turning away from alternative treatments without fully considering them.

Britain’s death rate from illegal drug use is the highest in Europe.