The Author

Jan Schneider was born on 14.10.1974 in Giessen; Studied at the Department of Social Studies, University of Applied Sciences Wiesbaden and at Beit Berl College, Israel; he is a doctoral candidate at the Institute for Political Science, Justus-Liebig-Universität Giessen and scholarship holder through the German Hans Böckler Stiftung; editorial member of the newsletter Migration und Bevölkerung for the German Federal Agency for Civic Education (bpb).
Academic interests: migration and migration policy, government and governance, Israeli-Palestinean conflict; current doctoral project on the role of governmental commissions in the German policy cycle, a case study of the German Independent Commission on Immigration

Acknowledgements

Many peope have contributed to this book, which is a revised version of my graduate thesis, submitted to the University of Applied Sciences, Department of Social Studies, in Wiesbaden.
I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Dr. Karlheinz Schneider, who supervised my work. His vision has been as challenging and intriguing as his guidance and comments were constructive. I also wish to thank my principal research supporters and guides in Israel and in the United States—Haya Heichal, John DeDomenico and Dr. Darryl Inaba—without whom this study would not have been possible.
I owe an enormous debt to Kristin and Rita Howard for their diligent editing and proofreading of practically the entire manuscript—across oceans and with immense effort.
For the German part, numerous committed professionals in the Frankfurt institutions helped by providing me with information and comments. Particularly, I wish to thank Birgit Wichelmann-Werth of Café Fix. Furthermore, I am very grateful to Prof. Dr. Adalbert Evers, University of Giessen, for reading and commenting on the earlier version of the manuscript, and Prof. Dr. Stefan Gaitanides, University of Applied Sciences in Frankfurt, for his fruitful impetus to the topic. I thank Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Fricke for his preparations and recommendations as to the publication of this work, and for (co-)supervising the thesis as well as large parts of my studies in Wiesbaden.
I could gain deep insights into the Israeli Drug Treatment System through the profound knowledge and help of the dedicated Anti Drug Authority staff; Dr. Rachel Bar-Hamburger, Dr. Moshe Bar, Dr. Haim Mell, Ruth El Ro’i, and Tami Tal. I also owe a debt of gratitude to my fellow students in Beit Berl, Shiri Evenpaz, Lihi Mahlul and Susan Fisher, who facilitated the inclusion of interviews and references in Hebrew with their translations.
A great portion of thanks goes out to all at Haight Ashbury Free Clinics, particularly to Dr. David Smith, President, and Rick Seymour of Haight Ashbury Publications for their cooperation regarding publication and distribution of this book in the United States. Furthermore, I am indebted to Andrea Mitchell of Berkeley for putting the Alcohol Research Group’s comprehensive library at my disposal, and to Prof. Dr. Lorraine T. Midanik, University of California at Berkeley, who provided me with basic understanding of alcohol and drug policy in the United States in her classes.
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)—directly and indirectly—enabled me to conduct the comparative research abroad by granting various scholarships. Beyond, I deeply thank the Howard-family and my friend Kraithep Mongkol for being my hosts.
I am grateful to Dr. Hans-Jürgen Wirth for facilitating the publication of this book within his publishing house Psychosozial-Verlag in Giessen.
Among all those who have helped me during my studies I would like to give my warmest thanks to my parents, Helga and Eckart Schneider, to Natascha Barth and to Thomas Storz. They were a constant source for discussion, support and encouragement to me. Last but not least, I thank my close friend and esteemed colleague Volker Tuchan for reviewing the typesetting of this book and for always being around.

Giessen, July, 2001
Jan Schneider