News in Brief

(Translator's note: The following might be used to support an appeal
to the churches to adopt a more truly Christian stance. They have been
getting a free ride. It is time they were targeted, in my opinion.)

Wilfried Goebels writes in the 'Aachener Zeitung'
(http://www.aachener-zeitung.de)
on the withdrawal of the CDU from its hard-line position against
heroin distribution.

CDU DISCUSSES HEROIN FOR HARD-CORE ADDICTS

Duesseldorf. The CDU is pulling back from its sharp rejection of
so-called ‘fixing rooms’ for hard-core addicts. At a drug conference
in Duesseldorf on Monday, leading representatives of the state and
federal caucuses supported a prejudice-free discussion of fixing rooms
and state controlled heroin distribution to hard-core addicts.

Hermann Kues, vice-president of the Bonn delegation, justified the
change of course on the success of the Frankfurt model, which had
shown a reduction of 50% in the number of drug related fatalities.
During the same time span, the federal rate had decreased by only 8%,
said Kues.

Against this background, Christian Democrats strove to reach a
consensus in their overall drug policy. The goal of a drug-free
society must remain in the foreground, said CDU state boss Juergen
Ruettgers. If ‘only’ 12% of the 12 to 17 year olds in Germany had
experimented with illegal drugs, as against 20% in the Netherlands and
33% in Great Britain, siren songs warning of the failure of the German
drug policy are out of place. On the other hand, the implementation of
the zero tolerance policy in dealing with junkies had not had any
appreciable success. This was documented by the increase in drug
related fatalities from 324 in 1983 to 1674 in 1998.

CDU spokesperson for social affairs Hermann-Josef Arentz added that
the party should at least give consideration to the setting up of
fixing rooms. Those who wanted to take this step would have to supply
heroin to the addicts and offer them psycho-social support with the
possibility of detox therapy.

Kues estimated the annual cost per addict at 18,000 marks. However, it
would be just too cynical for the CDU to end the discussion of fixing
rooms, even though told by doctors that addicts’ lives could have been
saved had they been helped in fixing rooms. State delegation boss
Laurenz Meyer asked for new ways to be tested. The party should not
make it too easy for themselves by roundly rejecting new proposals.

According to sociologue Arentz, one in every five families in North
Rhein Westphalia must directly confront the problem of addiction.
(Complete article given at http://www.aachener-zeitung.de.)