The Swiss Federal Council has declared its intention to seek ratification of the agreement by Parliament in 1998, but it is currently awaiting the results of a popular initiative, which would lead to a more liberal drug policy. The adoption of this initiative may well be incompatible with the 1988 UN Drug Convention. The Federal Council has also indicated that it might attach two reservations to the ratification of the 1988 UN Drug Convention, which would allow for a more liberal Swiss policy regarding individual consumption of drugs and give Swiss courts more discretion in sentencing. When that is done, Swiss authorities move quickly and effectively. The USG shares information with Swiss authorities, and they regularly act on such information.
Swiss authorities have broad support for efforts to trace and seize criminal wealth.
The banks have accepted these efforts. There is no record of traffickers undertaking retaliatory actions related to money laundering investigations, Swiss government cooperation with the US government, or seizure of assets. Demand Reduction . Switzerland has always been at the forefront of drug treatment programs, having pioneered methadone treatment in the late 1970's and adopted among the first needle exchange programs in the 1980's to combat the spread of the HIV virus. Switzerland launched a controversial new drug rehabilitation program in 1994, the final report for which was released in July 1997.