"Chronic public inebriates" have been given government-financed apartments in Seattle and allowed to keep drinking, a new twist on addressing the related issues of homelessness and addiction, the New York Times reported July 5.

The 70 men and 5 women housed in the 1811 Eastlake property by King County have each failed attempts at sobriety six times or more; housing comes with no strings attached, such as a promise to stop drinking or attend AA meetings. "They woke me up in detox and told me they were going to move me in," said Rodney Littlebear, 37. "When I got here, I said, 'Oh boy, this don't look like no treatment center.'"

County officials say their intent is to save taxpayers money; they estimate that the annual costs of sheltering, jailing, and treating the city's hard-core homeless alcoholics to be about $50,000 annually, while housing them at the Eastlake property costs $13,000 a year.

The program has been harshly criticized in some circles. "Bunks for drunks -- it's a living monument to failed social policy," said John Carlson, a conservative radio talk show host, who accused city officials of "aiding and abetting someone's self-destruction."

But residents like Howard Hunt, 41, said, "We're going to drink somewhere," and city officials have wearied of dealing with the problems of chronic alcoholics living on the street. And John Meyers, director of the regional office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, called the project a "glorious experiment."

"It's a lot cheaper having them spend the night at 1811 than at the E.R. or at the drunk tank," he said. And Philip F. Mangano, executive director of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, said every U.S. city should have a similar facility.