Amsterdam's Drunks Clean The Streets

Just about everyone walking in a downtown area dislikes seeing drunks hanging around creating a mess....begging for money, sleeping on benches, littering, even defecating and urinating in public. What to do about it? The city can't arrest every drunk because police have other more important things to do during their shifts. But Amsterdam is trying another approach to the drunk on the street.

In Amsterdam, a handful of alcoholics clean the surrounding streets, sometimes with a beer and a cigarette in hand. It's because the city has a program for alcoholics. In exchange for their cleaning the city streets they used to dirty, the drunks receive 10 euros (around $13), a half-packet of rolling tobacco and, most importantly, five cans of beer... two to start the day, two at lunch and one for after work. Yep! Under the so called Rainbow Foundation Project, drunks in Amsterdam work for beer. The alcoholics are split into two groups of around 10 people, with each group working three days a week.

"This group of chronic alcoholics was causing a nuisance in Amsterdam's Oosterpark: fights, noise, disagreeable comments to women," said Gerrie Holterman, who heads the Rainbow Foundation project, financed by the Dutch state and donations. "The aim is to keep them occupied, to get them doing something so they no longer cause trouble at the park," she said.

The fact is that you can never eradicate addicts. They have always existed and will always exist. At least Amsterdam does something to protect both the addicts and the general populace. Haha I think I know people who like their beer so much that would move there just to join this program. "We need alcohol to function, that's the disadvantage of chronic alcoholism," said one street cleaning drunk when interviewed. But is it the right way to handle an addiction? Is it encouraging the street drunks to drunk more?

"They're no longer in the park, they drink less, they eat better and they have something to keep them busy during the day. Heroin addicts can go to shooting galleries, so why shouldn't we also give people beer?" said Holterman, the Rainbow Foundation leader. Even the drunks love it, saying they are happy to be there, all taking part voluntarily. "It gives our lives some structure," said one alcoholic who asked not to be named. And people living in the neighborhood also seem happy, greeting the cleaners as they work.

Opinions however differ about how much the work affects the group's drinking habits. The fact is the drunks are still drinking, as they were before. Now it's with the city of Amsterdam's approval and help. I doubt any of them will be cured of their alcoholism when the city pays them for street cleaning services with alcohol. They probably drink just as much as they did before when they are not working at their street cleaning job.

Maybe we should all just have a beer and think about how effective the program really is.