Although Tel Aviv is the tourist capital of Israel, with attractions of all sorts all over the city and numerous websites offering <a rel="nofollow" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href=" ">Tel Aviv vacation apartments</a> such as TelAviv-Apartment.com, there is also the other, darker side of the city.  The side of Tel Aviv that is rife with drugs, crime, and diseases.  Over the past several months, the Tel Aviv municipality has come up with an interesting approach to cutting down on the crime rate.  The statistics say that over 75% of property crimes that occur in Tel Aviv are a direct result of drug addictions, and specifically an addiction to heroin.  A large percentage of violence in Tel Aviv is incurred when addicts seeking drugs don't have the money or the means to obtain them.  Such being the case, the Tel Aviv municipality has set up several carefully supervised clinics for the dispensation of heroin to older addicts who have tried several times unsuccessfully to get clean.  The purpose of these clinics is not only to reduce the crime rate of Tel Aviv, but also to segue hard-core heroin addicts into a life that provides more normalcy and eventually assist them in kicking the habit in a supportive, understanding environment.

This controversial method has already been proven successful (at least in the short term) by Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, all of whom utilized this approach to cleaning up their cities.  There is no question that using heroin in these clinics as opposed to lesser forms of the drug, such as methadone, is more effective.  And no one can discount the benefit of a clinic that provides hypodermic needles that are guaranteed to be clean, "healthier" forms of heroin, and psychiatric support.  But the question still remains:  Is Tel Aviv (if not Israel in general) growing into a culture that not only allows but endorses drugs?