Pubdate: Tue, 24 Feb 1998
Source: Daily Arizona Star (AZ)
Contact: AMSTERDAM INJECTION CENTERS OFFER REFUGE FOR JUNKIES

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Instead of shooting up heroin in stairwells
and phone booths, Dirk Devries can now feed his  addiction in a quiet room
paid for by the city.

 The laid-back Dutch capital - famous for its marijuana and  hashish cafes
- - opened three city-funded centers yesterday to  help get an estimated 400
homeless junkies like Devries off the streets.

 "They use the streets as their toilet, and needles end up on the street,"
said City Councilwoman Jikkie Van der Giessen, who hopes  the,centers will
give homeless addicts a bit more dignity.

 Although the Dutch have a tolerant drug policy and allow  possession of
small amounts of so-called "soft" drugs for personal use, homeless drug
addicts are looked upon as public  nuisances, and police don't hesitate to
arrest heroin users.

 The drop-in centers provide clean needles and a room in which addicts may
inject or smoke their own drugs. They also provide showers, washing
machines and light meals.

 The goal isn't to wean addicts off drugs; it's simply to give  them a
warm, safe place to get a fix.

 The atmosphere is cafe-like: Addicts grab sandwiches from  platters and
eat them in rooms decorated with flowers and  plastered with health
posters, then wait their turn to use a back  room, where the needles are.

 Devries' center is near the old Heineken brewery in southern Amsterdam.
Every day, he'll relax in the small, pale yellow room  in the back of the
building and inject a fourth of a gram of  heroin in his body, at leisure
and at peace.

 "When you're on the street, you're always in a hurry and can't really
enjoy what you are doing," he said. Addicts are allowed to linger and savor
their highs in the centers, which are open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

 Over the past two decades, larger centers in Amsterdam and  Rotterdam were
closed after they attracted hundreds of foreign  addicts - and dealers who
circled the centers like sharks.

 Other European countries, notably Germany and Switzerland, also have
experimented with the same approach for longtime homeless addicts.

 Despite Amsterdam's problems with the concept in the past, Van der Giessen
wanted to give addicts another chance in smaller  centers under tighter
control. If the experiment is successful, another three centers will open
within the next three months.

 "As long as we leave them on the street, we can't reach them," said Van
der Giessen, who hopes the users will want to overcome  their addictions
after they become part of a social structure again.

 But Devries, who has used heroin for 20 years, is not looking for help
with his addiction.

 "The intention is not to get out of the addiction, but to have a place to
use safely," Devries said. "It's possible to have a  normal life when you
have that habit."