THE FRINGE

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Free drugs

The Swiss people have voted in a referendum to allow their government to give, sometimes at no cost, heroin to addicts as a means of cutting down on drug-related crime.

The experimental program has been under way for three years. Officials say crime committed by registered drug addicts has fallen 60 percent and addicts on the scheme cost Switzerland’s government $30 a day less than those on the streets.

Now this is a neat way of balancing the budget. It reduces cost of policing, drug counselling and correction centres.

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Today we hear about the right to be free to do your own thing, regardless of the effect on others. If people want to opt out of society and become virtual vegetables, can we question their freedom to do so?

The Swiss decision is more extreme than you will see in North America or most of Europe where the war against hard drugs is still being waged. However, the list of government-supervised moral restrictions is rapidly diminishing. Remember the Lord’s Day Act that closed businesses on a Sunday? Remember the rigid rules on liquor consumption? Remember when lotteries and casinos were illegal?

If you’re expecting a sermon on the sins of the new morality, forget it. The important thing is for governments to wipe out their debts so they can reduce taxation. This will give us the option to eat out seven days a week, fill our clothes closets with chic label garments from the Edmonton Mall, travel to the Epcot Center in Florida and play games on the Internet.

And, occasionally, donate a can of soup to the food bank.