Re: Welfare Solution #389

[Bill Frantz <frantz@netcom.com>]

At 7:47 AM -0700 8/22/97, Alex Le Heux wrote:
>I Switserland they've gone even further now, and started supplying hardcore
>herion addicts with free heroin. The results were quite dramatic. Most of the
>addicts gave up stealing/etc and some even managed to get and hold a normal
>job. As it turned out, supplying them with free heroin was much cheaper than
>having them hang around and steal/rob/etc. It also served to reduce the call
>for extra police, and the call by the police for more rights/weapons/etc.

The Swiss friends we visited earlier this week agree that this policy has
had positive effects.  We passed a park in Zurich that had formally been
used by heroin addicts as a "shooting gallery", and was now being used by
ordinary citizens including families with small children.  They mentioned
the change in the park as one of the benefits of the new policy.


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