More than 1´400 addicts receive medical attention

A total of 1'400 persons are receiving medical treatment for drug addiction, chiefly heroin, in the Balearics, according to Miquel Amengual, the new co-ordinator of the Drugs Plan in the islands. He said in Palma yesterday that in Majorca, there are nearly 1'000 addicts receiving medical attention, and there is a waiting list of 210. Amengual was introduced yesterday by Aina Salom, the Balearic health minister, who said that her department planned to approve a law on drugs and reform the local Drugs Plan before the end of the legislature. Both Salom and Amengual said that two new centres for the treatment of addicts were needed in the Balearics. Amengual pointed out that consumption of drugs in the islands was double the national average. Salom pointed out that means are never sufficient, even though the budget has risen 70 per cent compared to last year, to a total of 248 million pesetas. Amengual said that his chief objective would be to work with other public institutions to set up a public network of centres to tackle the problem.