GERMAN CABINET APPROVES PLAN FOR 'JUNKIE CENTERS'

Worried about a national rise in drug-related deaths, Chancellor Gerhard
Schroeder's Cabinet approved a bill Wednesday that would allow states to set
up centers where heroin addicts could go for a safe fix.

Christa Nickels, the government's drugs policy adviser, said the proposed
law would clear up a legal grey area for street workers who ''stand with one
leg in jail when they provide survival help.''

She noted that the number of deaths related to consumption of illegal drugs
rose to 798 in the first half of 1999, compared to 735 in the same period
last year.

But in Frankfurt, which has experimented with drug centers and methadone
clinics, the number of drug-related deaths has dropped from 183 in 1991 to
only 44 cases in 1995, she said.

The proposal sets federal standards for so-called ''junkie centers,'' but
leaves the decision whether to set them up to local governments in each of
Germany's 16 states.

It still must be approved by parliament. Opposition conservatives criticized
the plan Wednesday as dangerous for young people, who they said might
misinterpret the centers as signifying official acceptance of drug use.