Switzerland declared its novel experiment with statedistributed
herion a success Thursday,saying the drug giveaway has slashed crime,
misery and disease associated with hardcore drug addiction.

The program has attracted the interest of the World Health Organ
ization, which is evaluating the results, and Dutch officials, who
said they were using it as a model for their own effort.

Presenting the findings of the pilot threeyear program involving
1,146 hardened addicts, health and lawenforcement experts said it has
saved taxpayers money and should be continued. But they also stressed
that having doctors inject daily doses of herion was no substitute for
traditional substance abuse therapies.