http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/05/world/europe/amsterdam-has-a-deal-for-alcoholics-work-paid-in-beer.html?_r=1& Elysia, Amsterdam Read Full Comment » Post a Comment » “You have to look sharp,†said Mr. Schiphorst, 60, a former construction worker. His workday begins unfailingly at 9 a.m. - with two cans of beer, a down payment on a salary paid mostly in alcohol. He gets two more cans at lunch and then another can or, if all goes smoothly, two to round off a productive day. “I'm not proud of being an alcoholic, but I am proud to have a job again,†said Mr. Schiphorst, the grateful beneficiary of an unusual government-funded program to lure alcoholics off the streets by paying them in beer to pick up trash. In addition to beer - the brand varies depending on which brewery offers the best price - each member of the cleaning team gets half a packet of rolling tobacco, free lunch and 10 euros a day, or about $13.55. The program, started last year by the Rainbow Foundation, a private but mostly government-funded organization that helps the homeless, drug addicts and alcoholics get back on their feet, is so popular that there is a long waiting list of chronic alcoholics eager to join the beer-fueled cleaning teams. One of the project's most enthusiastic supporters is Fatima Elatik, district mayor of eastern Amsterdam. As a practicing Muslim who wears a head scarf, Ms. Elatik personally disapproves of alcohol but says she believes that alcoholics “cannot be just ostracized†and told to shape up. It is better, she said, to give them something to do and restrict their drinking to a limited amount of beer with no hard alcohol. Conservative members of the Amsterdam City Council have derided what they call the “beer project†as a waste of government money and a misguided extension of a culture of tolerance that has already made the city a mecca for marijuana users and spawned Europe's best-known red-light district. Hans Wijnands, the director of the Rainbow Foundation, dismissed such complaints as political grandstanding at a time when, even in the Netherlands, “it is becoming more fashionable to support repressive measures.†Alarmed by what it said was a rise in crime caused by liberal drug laws, the Dutch government announced a plan in 2010 to bar foreigners from buying cannabis in so-called coffee shops, which sell marijuana and hashish legally. Amsterdam's mayor ordered city police to ignore the ban, which was supposed to go into effect nationwide this year. The idea of providing alcoholics with beer in return for work, he said, was first tried in Canada. It took off in the Netherlands in part because the country has traditionally shunned “zero tolerance†in response to addiction. Amsterdam now has three districts running beer-for-work street cleaning programs, and a fourth discussing whether to follow suit. Other Dutch cities are looking into the idea, too. The basic idea is to extend to alcoholics an approach first developed to help heroin addicts, who have for years been provided with free methadone, a less dangerous substitute, in a controlled environment that provides access to health workers and counselors. “If you just say, ‘Stop drinking and we will help you,' it doesn't work,†said Mr. Wijnands, whose foundation gets 80 percent of its financing from the state and runs four drug consumption rooms with free needles for hardened addicts. “But if you say, ‘I will give you work for a few cans of beer during the day,' they like it.†To shield the government from criticism that it is subsidizing drinking, the Rainbow Foundation insists that it pays for the beer given to Mr. Schiphorst and his fellow alcoholics out of its own funds. “For the government, it is hard to say, ‘We buy beer for a particular group of people,' because other people will say, ‘I would like some beer, too,' †Mr. Wijnands said. </blockquote>
I had a buddy way back that worked at the Philip Morris plant and when it was pay day you everyone would line up to get there check and the mandatory box of cigs regardless if you smoked. At meetings they would pass around a bowl that rather then jelly beans were cigs LOL. That story reminded me of her.
I saw a short documentary about this on tv. From what I could tell their lives have drastically improved. They get the cheap ass hobo beer though, it's disgusting.
As a recovering alcoholic, I can tell you that is the last thing those people need. State-sponsored alcoholism.
Ancient pyramid builders in egypt were also paid in beer and bread rations. I dont see much of a difference
I think this might be a catch-22. They got these guys working, but I think its actually a trick to lower alcohol use. Think about it, if your life has been ruined by alcoholism, and all of a sudden, you're being paid in the very thing that ruined your life, so their hoping it sets off light bulbs and helps these people realize what a waste spending all you have on booze is, instead of using it responsibly. Couple that with the fact the you arent making any money if you are getting paid in booze, and they're looking for a double team to show these people that there is more to life than the bottom of a bottle. or maybe they said "fuck it lets pay them in booze"
Great idea. Some people just don't want to quit their addiction but they still want to work. Whataya gonna do? An intervention?
I cannot believe you all are okay with this. This is sickening. I would have never gotten better if I were doing something like that, and I doubt those people will either.
Well the effects on their lives are clearly positive. Not sure how that shines through in the article (didn't read all of it), but the documentary I watched about this showed that these people's lives have improved quite a bit because of this. It's like how in some countries they distribute free heroin to addicts, giving them an opportunity to get off the streets and start building up a more normal existance again.
It's a good thing that they're working....but for beer?...I mean you could buy a decent amount of shitty beer to make up for shitty pay
I think the point is more that they get to drink while at work, so that their addiction doesn't prevent them from working.
Yeah man. I don't know if you or anyone else here ever saw that documentary on National Geographic, I think it was called Drugged. There was one episode about alcohol, it was truly shocking. The guy they followed in the documentary had constant muscle spasms and he eventually died from his drinking too.
State-sponsored alcoholism and drug addiction. Sweet. The state is helping them die, whether they have a job or not.
Yeah, because it's so much easier to kick your addiction when you're on the streets begging for change or stealing car stereos.
I've met and worked with numerous addicts/alcoholics who were homeless and have recovered. Many tell me they had to get to that point before they were ever going to get better. Ask anyone (including myself) who is successful in recovery if they think this is a good thing. I really don't need the lecture on how to get and stay sober.
I'm not sure how directly you were replying to my statement, but are you saying you think it's more likely that people will recover from an addiction when they are hopeless on the streets than when they are working and living in a house? That seems odd to me. As I imagine you would agree, environment plays a large role in addiction. It seems to me like a more positive environment like this would help in the first steps to recovery. Also, these people have been to "that point". And it's not easy to move away from that. This program serves as a link between the world of alcoholics and the world of the job market. EDIT: Another thing I would like to mention is that at least we're trying. How effective this program could be is only part of the story, the intent in itself also says something. It's also somewhat experimental of course. This is not like some major thing where we're rounding up all the alcoholics and putting them on the beer-for-work bus.