Swiss voters yesterday threw out proposals to legalise the consumption of heroin and other narcotics.
Some 74 per cent of voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that "the consumption, cultivation or possession of drugs, and their acquisition for personal use, is not punishable".
The plan would have made Switzerland the only country in the world where anyone aged 18 or older could buy drugs of their choice, from marijuana to heroin, from state-run outlets or pharmacies after consultation with a physician. Around 26 per cent of the electorate (454,404 people) voted in favour.
"I am very disappointed. We had expected a much better result," said Mr Francois Reusser, co-organiser of the committee that collected enough signatures to trigger the referendum under the Swiss system of direct democracy.
"We were unable to mobilise a wide range of [drugs] consumers themselves, the dope-smokers and ravers, or there would have been a different outcome."
The Swiss are summoned to the polls three or four times a year over a huge range of subjects - new corn laws and labour legislation were also voted on yesterday. Turnout was 37 per cent.
Last year the Swiss recorded a world first in voting overwhelmingly in favour of state distribution of heroin to hardened addicts, but baulked at the prospect of a drugs free-for-all.
The government opposed the plan, saying it was a health risk and would turn Switzerland into a haven for drug tourists and traffickers and anger neighbouring European countries.
"Based on my long-suffering experience as a judge, I must acknowledge that the treatment of narcotics delinquency by the criminal justice system has obviously been a gigantic and very expensive waste of effort," a Basle judge and professor, Mr Peter Albrecht, wrote in the Neue Zuercher Zeitung.
"The existing law is really counter-productive because it hinders the protection of public health and creates an enormous amount of procurement crime [for buying drugs]," he said.
Critics of the initiative say Switzerland is already doing well with its policy of providing heroin for severe addicts and expanding addiction treatment programs while also combatting the illegal drugs trade and financing anti-drugs campaigns.
The pro-legalisation lobby, a loose left-wing coalition which gathered the necessary 100,000 signatures to force the referendum, claimed it would stamp out trafficking and the black market.
Backers hoped that sufficient votes in their favour would convince the government to relax laws on soft drugs like cannabis.
Switzerland has an estimated 30,000 hard drug addicts in its population of 7 million, one of Europe's highest rates.
To the government's relief, voters gave the go-ahead to a finance package to link Switzerland to Europe's high-speed train network and build two Alpine rail tunnels.
The project is key to a planned transport accord between the European Union and non-member Switzerland. EU ministers meet today for more discussions on the deal.