[microtherion]

Yes, the Platzspitz/Letten scenes were awful, but these are not what the post that you were initially were responding to was describing.

> It wasn’t until a real crackdown that things got better.

Yes, there was a crackdown, but it’s not like this hadn’t been done numerous times before, both in Switzerland and in other countries, so this hardly could have been the major cause of the permanent improvement (which I think we both agree did indeed occur around that time).

> They tried […] the treatments you mentioned

And THOSE were the new factor, and THAT is what made the difference. The Heroin assisted treatment is still in force (an article a few years ago mentioned that about 1400 addicts in Switzerland are in the program).