So far there are no signs of a fentanyl wave in Switzerland
Published: Thursday, Nov 30th 2023, 10:00
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The painkiller fentanyl has become the leading cause of death for people aged between 18 and 49 in the USA. Such misery is unlikely to occur in Switzerland for various reasons, said Thilo Beck, Co-Chief Physician of Psychiatry at the addiction medicine institution Arud.
According to Beck, so far there are no signs of a fentanyl wave in Switzerland. The conditions in Switzerland are completely different compared to the USA. There has never been an over-prescription of opioid painkillers by doctors to the same extent as in the USA.
Patients in the USA who have become addicted are no longer supplied with painkillers by their doctors, forcing them to turn to the black market.
Withdrawal is not always the first goal
There are also much better treatment options for opioid addicts in Switzerland than in the USA, Beck continued. Currently, young people are not being prescribed strong painkillers by a doctor, but are obtaining them on the black market. These people need to be treated as quickly as possible in order to avoid deaths.
Withdrawal treatment is not always the first goal. "If the young people are still at school or doing an apprenticeship, or if they already have a job, such a measure could interrupt and jeopardize their development," says Beck.
In these cases, treatment is initially "switched" to buprenorphine, methadone or morphine so that the young people can stabilize without jeopardizing their employment or education.
Fentanyl patches in the federal government's compulsory stockpile
Time and again, delegations from the USA come to Switzerland to learn about the "Swiss model". Politically, however, such "pragmatic" approaches have so far had little chance in the USA.
The USA has always emphasized complete abstinence from drugs. However, withdrawal also carries risks: If fentanyl addicts relapse after withdrawal, they have a much higher risk of dying than before.
The painkiller fentanyl is around 50 times stronger than heroin and was originally developed for patients with chronic pain, such as terminal cancer patients. The federal government therefore keeps patches containing fentanyl in its compulsory stocks.
Drug cartels that once sold heroin have long since switched to fentanyl and now produce the synthetic opioid themselves. They source raw chemicals from China. Today, cartels can earn much more money with fentanyl than with heroin. It is also easier to smuggle.
©Keystone/SDA
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