Cengiz Demirci is a trained social psychologist. His job at Görlitzer Park is a part of a new strategy worked out by the Berlin Senate. For years, local government enforced a "zero tolerance policy" at the park -- and even small-time dealers faced legal consequences. That approach is now being abandoned in favor of dialogue and mediation. There are often more than 100 dealers in the park at the same time; many of them are refugees who don't have work permits. Among the new guidelines: the dealers are discouraged from talking to young people. But Cengiz Demirci and his colleagues have come to the conclusion that the problems in Görlitzer Park are much bigger than just drugs.
The Fight against Drugs - A Park Keeper and the Dealers
Report by Oxana Evdokimova