DRUG HALL OPENS NEXT YEAR, OFFERING HARD DRUG

The center, known as a drug hall, will provide clean needles and cubicles,
in which addicts may inject or smoke their own drugs, the president of the
Madrid regional government Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon announced Thursday.

``Our aim is to help heroin users by giving them hygienic conditions and to
prevent the spread of contagious diseases,'' said the director of the
Spanish anti-drug agency, Jose Cabrera.

The center should be open by the end of February receiving 150 visits a day,
Gallardon said.

The United Nations Narcotics Control Board was skeptical about the Spanish
initiative, which echoes similar experiments in The Netherlands, Germany and
Switzerland.

Herbert Schaepe, secretary of the U.N agency, was quoted in the daily El
Pais on Friday as saying the organization would be watching to see if the
project breaks the law. The agency believes improving conditions for drug
consumption contradicts the prohibitions against drug trafficking, El Pais
said.