November 22, 1983

MANY problem drinkers and even some victims of severe alcoholism can learn to control their drinking without having to abandon it entirely, according to several leading experts in Europe. That opinion is still the minority viewpoint on both sides of the Atlantic. The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in this country has consistently maintained that ''abstinence is the appropriate goal of alcoholism treatment,'' and governmental health authorities in Europe have given only limited endorsement to the concept of ''controlled drinking.'' Still, the idea that at least some alcoholics and problem drinkers can successfully learn to limit their consumption rather than abstain altogether appears to be gaining influence and recognition, especially in Great Britain and Scandinavia. Indeed, Two Scottish psychologists, Nick Heather and Ian Robertson, authors of a major 1981 book on ''Controlled Drinking,'' have exuberantly proclaimed ''a veritable scientific revolution in the alcoholism field.''

While the fadeout of the neighborhood variety store has been predicted for years, M. H. Lamston evidently hasn't been listening. In 1984, the 32- store chain will celebrate 50 years in the metropolitan New York area, a period in which it has witnessed the rise and fall of many larger and smaller retailers. Lamston has prospered at the upscale end of the variety store business. But it has done so without a heavy push into smart new shopping malls and without resorting to extensive discounting of its wide range of merchandise.

Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski strengthened his control over Poland today by setting up a powerful military government in reserve, ready to take over political and economic affairs at his command. Legislation approved by Parliament without debate or dissent established a National Defense Committee, almost certain to be headed by the general, that will decide when a state of emergency or war should be declared and then assume sweeping powers. The move, among other things, will give General Jaruzelski the ability to move swiftly against any outbreaks of unrest that may develop over food price increases scheduled to go into effect in the new year. Walesa Calls for Struggle Lech Walesa, the founder of Solidarity, met secretly with the union's fugitive underground leaders over the weekend and issued a call for struggle against the increases.

LAST July, when the State Board of Regents first proposed sweeping changes for New York's schools, the plan they offered seemed unimpeachable - ''educational apple pie,'' in the words of one school superintendent. The Regents' plan called for higher academic standards, a longer school year, more rigorous courses and more of them - all oft-proposed balms for the national mediocrity that many reports have complained about in recent months. But the new plan, developed by the State Department of Education and tentatively approved by the Regents, has come under close scrutiny by teachers, administrators, politicians, unions and civic leaders who worry that it may be more a reaction to national alarums about education than a realistic program designed to work. At a series of regional conferences being held by the State Education Department on what is formally known as the Regents Action Plan, criticism has been polite but persistent, so much so that the State Education Commissioner, Gordon M. Ambach, has made a point of emphasizing that the proposal is subject to change. Neither he nor the Regents have been specific about possible changes.

Yasir Arafat was cornered along with several thousand guerrilla loyalists by Syrian-supported Palestinian rebels at the edge of downtown Tripoli, Lebanon. A spokesman for the P.L.O. leader said the rebel offensive had severed the last road links between Mr. Arafat and pockets of his backers holding out in the Beddawi refugee camp. (Page A1, Column 6.) The people of Tripoli are resigning themselves to a long, painful siege and continuing nerve-shattering artillery shelling. (A1:5-6.)