Addiction Treatments in Switzerland: Alcohol Remains Leading by a Large Margin, Cocaine Shows Strongest Increase

The monitoring system act-info, funded by the Federal Office of Public Health and developed by the foundation Sucht Schweiz, allows for estimating how many people seek treatment or counselling for addiction issues in specialised institutions and how the situation develops over time.

Alcohol clearly remains at the top of the list in 2024, with just under 20,000 treatment entries. The average age of the clientele, at around 45 years, is higher than for most other substances, and the average duration between the start of noticeable use and the first entry into treatment is longer than for other substances, at over 10 years. This long span before beginning treatment can, among other things, be facilitated by the widespread acceptance of alcohol consumption in society.

Cocaine including crack: More than 5,000 people started treatment for the main issue of powdered cocaine or crack in 2024, with crack estimated to account for almost 20% of these cases. For both forms of cocaine combined, the demand for treatment increased by more than 40% from 2020 to 2024. Due to low prices and high availability, cocaine use (particularly in powder form) is found across wide segments of society. The age group of 25-39 is particularly present at treatment entries, with the first use of cocaine often occurring around the age of 20.

Other substances: In 2024, the use of opioids was the main reason for treatment in over 4,000 entries, including just over 1,500 admissions to opioid agonist therapy. Cannabis was recorded as the main reason for over 4,000 treatment entries in 2024. Sleep and sedative drugs accounted for the main issue in around 2,000 treatment entries in 2024.

Behavioural addictions: Approximately 3,500 people began treatment in 2024 for addiction-like behaviours. Gambling accounted for the largest share with around 1,300 treatment entries (and an increase of over 40% between 2020 and 2024), followed by addiction-like problems associated with digital products.

Crack and opioids: Complex problems with frequent re-treatments. For opioids and increasingly for cocaine, especially for crack, there is a higher rate of repeated treatments compared to other substances, reflecting the high addiction potential of these substances and showing the difficulty in breaking free from addiction to them. The act-info data also suggests that those affected often live in very precarious circumstances and consume multiple substances at the same time. Additionally, the alternating use of crack, powdered cocaine, and opioids with repeated treatment entries is often observed.

Only a small portion of those affected seek help. Given the high number of people in Switzerland who have problems related to the use of psychoactive substances or other addiction-causing behaviours, many more people could seek treatment. Particularly with alcohol, even heavy consumption is still largely normalised, leading many affected individuals not to recognise their problems for a long time. This taboo must be broken.

Cuts to treatment monitoring weaken the knowledge base. Due to budget constraints for the federal government, the monitoring system act-info must be reduced. This is regrettable as it is a necessary tool for monitoring the situation in the addiction sector, especially for the consumption of illegal substances. In a time with ever-new substances and rapidly changing situations, sufficient data on developments should be available to react and adjust measures and treatment offerings. Despite reduced resources, the monitoring system act-info continues to make an important contribution to observing the health situation in Switzerland.

The monitoring system act-info is based on an annual survey of all addiction assistance facilities to estimate the total number of people treated for addiction problems in Switzerland (excluding private medical treatments). In addition to the main issues of the affected individuals, information on age and gender distribution as well as treatment experience will be collected starting in 2026.

A subgroup of addiction assistance institutions has provided more detailed information on the problems and characteristics of their clientele for two decades through entry and exit questionnaires, such as age at the beginning of use, living conditions, additional problems, consumption combinations, re-entry, and conditions of treatment completion. Due to federal budget constraints, this second part can no longer be collected in the future. This will be compensated as far as possible by expanding the institution survey. Statistics on opioid agonist therapy and treatment with diacetylmorphine (pharmaceutically manufactured heroin) will continue.

Press contact:
Markus Meury
Media spokesperson
mmeury@suchtschweiz.ch
021 321 29 63

Editor's note: Image rights belong to the respective publisher. Image rights: Sucht Schweiz