SURVEY OF GERMAN LANGUAGE NEWSPAPERS FOR 11 FEB 99

The Berliner Kurier (http://www.berlinonline.de/aktuelles/berliner_kurier)
carries an article on "Demon Alcohol: Every Eighth Person Drinks On The
Job". Authors: Bettina Dittmann, Tobias v. Heymann und Norbert Klaucke

BERLIN - Many know, but no one speaks: alcohol in the work-place - the
great taboo topic in the capital. Every eighth worker has a problem with
alcohol, since he drinks daily on the job. One in two reaches for the
bottle every so often. In that can be seen the transition from the misuse
of alcohol (colleagues are often sick, unable to concentrate, tremble) to
alcohol dependency (unable to function without alcohol). The reasons given
for drinking so much: stress on the job; anxiety about losing the job;
spiritual problems.

12% of the 195,000 public service employees, also, have alcohol problems.
Michael Wiedeburg, who directs the city's underground train service office
of consultation for those with dependency problems, is sounding the alarm.
"The figure has remained steady for years. And we know only those who come
looking for help, or those who attract attention. The clandestine figure is
higher," he said. That is the reason 15 colleagues in our 23 district
offices have received special training to enable them to recognize
colleagues with alcohol problems and offer them help.

The most vulnerable are tradespersons and building laborers. "But one is
also likely to find Schnapps in the office desk of directors and doctors,"
said Dr. Werner E. Platz (58), specialist at the Karl Bonhoeffer Nerve Clinic.

Drinking on the job has economic as well as social consequences. A firm
with 1,000 employees loses a million marks a year, say the experts.
Alcoholic absenteeism is 16 times the norm and 4 times less productive.

Berlin police director of personnel, Rolf Tassler, admits they have
problems, but "our social servicees catch the individual cases," he said.
"Those who continue to drink are out."

The Neue Westfälische (http://www.owl-online.de) carries a report of a
no-nonsense talk on drugs given by Dr. Hermann Hunzinger, Specialist in
general practice, on the topic, "No News on the Drug Front".

Dr. Hunzinger, who has practiced in France, Mexico and California, gave a
brief review of the present drug situation. "When all is said and done," he
said. "alcohol and tobacco are the most dangerous and the most widely used
drugs. In comparison with cigarettes, for instance, marihuana is really
harmless. It is not without reason that marihuana can be bought in coffee
houses in Holland. The Dutch people are not really altogether stupid, you
know."

Speaking in favor of a process of dedramatization, decriminalization and
substitution, he said, "Drug tolerance in society must radically change.
The drug counsellor with a full ashtray and the educator with a butt in his
hand have no credibility."

"An addict is a sick person," he said, "regardless of what he is addicted
to, be it alcohol, heroin, water, or cream pies." He recommended a return
to basic principles. "Without waxing moralistic, let us learn again to
distinguish between good and ill, and modify our own drug relationships on
that basis."