English Translation
That drug is not safe.
Does Dieses mean both “this” and “that.” In the explanation it translates the sentences as “THIS medicine is not safe.”
Diese(s) does indeed seem to only mean “this”, “that” being jene.
I wonder, however, if the reason why the translator used dieses instead of jenes lies in the difference in usage. As in, in english you’d use this when the object is close to the speaker and that when its farther (or to contrast two different things). Maybe in German dieses is preferred whenever it’s the main thing being discussed without taking so much into account the distance… Hopefully a native can shed some light… : )
For example maybe something along the lines of: you are in a room, and through the door on the other side, a family member arriver carrying your old phone, which doesn’t work. In english you might say:
-
That cellphone you have is broken.
Because they are not just right beside you
But maybe a german speaker might say: - Dieses Handy du trägst ist kaputt
so, apparently the answer was just around the corner, the english’s entries for dieser and jener