Heroin Plague

Wealth .frustration and drugs

Prosperous, hard-working and orderly, West Germany has earned a reputation as perhaps Europe's most successful society. With alarming swiftness, though, the Federal Republic is now outstripping its neighbors in a far less enviable category: the nation of achievers has become the Continent's biggest market for illegal heroin. So far this year, West German police have seized 116 kilograms of heroin, a higher figure than was reported by all the other countries in Western Europe combined. At least 430 people died of drug overdose in West Germany last year, more than an eightfold increase since 1970. This year promises to batter all previous records: 335 drug-related deaths have been reported through July. On a per capita basis, police calculate, the Federal Republic now probably has more addicts than the U.S.

"Most of our people and politicians have not yet realized the danger," says a top-level West German narcotics agent, "but the situation is almost out of hand already." Overworked police are appealing to the federal government for tougher antidrug laws and more manpower. Says Erich Strass, the federal crime office's narcotics chief: "We must put the drug danger on the same level with the terrorist danger. Otherwise we will be overwhelmed in a year or two."

Working with U.S. military police, West German agents last month arrested 29 people for illegal possession of heroin in the southern town of Oppenheim. The raid netted 24 American G.I.s from near by Anderson Barracks. Also caught were two Turkish immigrant workers and three West German women, including one 24-year-old who was the ring's alleged leader. In all, police seized quantities of heroin worth $164,000 at street prices. Even though American soldiers were involved, U.S. military personnel have long ceased to be the main source of West Germany's narcotics problem. Trafficking and addiction among West Germans have been rising at alarming rates over the past two years, especially in West Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt and other large cities. Federal statistics indicate 43,000 known drug addicts in the country. But police estimate the real figure is twice that number. The vast majority are young Germans between the ages of 18 and 25.

Until West Germany gained ascendancy as Western Europe's main heroin market, that dubious distinction belonged to Amsterdam, which had dominated the trade following the breakup of the infamous "French Connection" in 1972. But unlike the highly organized drug networks that have operated in France, The Netherlands and the U.S., the West German drug trade is mainly in the hands of individual entrepreneurs selling the stuff on their own. This makes it all the more difficult to stem the tide. Arrest statistics indicate that a very high proportion of the smugglers are Turkish immigrants, who constitute about 2% of West Germany's population of 61 million. Complains one beleaguered West German narcotics agent: "You can't search everyone who crosses the border." So much heroin has been flowing into the country that the street price has fallen drastically over the past year from a top price of 400 deutsche marks per gram to 150.

West German affluence has been a major contributor to the present drug crisis. "It's financially easy to get the first few shots, and then you are an addict," says a West German narcotics agent. The country's wealth has also created psychological conditions conducive to narcotics use. Explains Frankfurt Psychologist Hans-Joachim Hittermann: "With affluence and success comes unexpected frustration, especially among the youth who never knew difficult times. This combination is made for drug abuse, as we have seenintheU.S." sb

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