Heroin distribution plan causes a storm

The plan proposed that a medical clinic be set up to allocate the drug to addicts under doctors' supervision.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID-HAY (TRANSLATED)
The city's plan to distribute heroin to adult addicts who have failed rehabilitation - reported in Metro last week - has caused a storm inside the municipality, with several senior officials expressing fierce opposition to the revolutionary idea, reports Yediot Tel Aviv. But others, including Mayor Ron Huldai, have urged their colleagues not to dismiss the plan so swiftly. According to the report, several senior officials were shocked by the plan, which proposed that a medical clinic be set up to allocate the drug to addicts under doctors' supervision. The plan aims to reduce the social damage caused by desperate addicts trying to obtain money to buy heroin, citing police and health workers' figures that three out of every four property crimes are caused by an addict, and that four out of five addicts fail rehabilitation efforts. At a fiery meeting of municipal officials with Huldai, several said the idea of the city's distributing an illegal drug, and doing so under official auspices, was problematic and was opposed by the National Authority for the War Against Drugs. But Huldai said the idea should be examined in depth. A special committee has been set up to discuss the issue, and will report its conclusions to the mayor.