Open drug scenes: responses of five European cities

BMC Public Health

Michael Gossop¹  Linn Gjersing³  Thomas Clausen⁴  Helge Waal² 

[1] Kings College London, National Addiction Centre, London, UK;Clinic for Psychiatry and Addiction, Oslo University Hospital, Kirkevn 166, 0450 Oslo, Norway;Norwegian Institute of Alcohol and Drug Research, Oslo, Norway;Norwegian Centre for Addiction Research (SERAF), University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

关键词: Urban drug policy;    Harm reduction;    Public nuisance;    Drug use area;   

Others  :  1128300
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-14-853

 received in 2014-01-14, accepted in 2014-07-29,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Open drug scenes are gatherings of drug users who publicly consume and deal drugs. The authors conducted a study of five European cities that have met such scenes constructively. The aim was to investigate shared and non-shared interventions and strategies in order to increase the understanding of this type of problem.

Methods

First a description was made for the cities of Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Vienna, Zürich and Lisbon. These descriptions were sent to contact persons in each city prior to visit by the researchers. The methods and strategies in each city were discussed and core choices and efforts extracted. A report was sent to the contact group for corrections and clarifications. The paper analyses shared and non-shared traits and strategies.

Results

All of the cities had initially a period with conflict between liberal and restrictive policies. A political consensus seems to be a prerequisite for effective action. A core shared characteristic was that drug dependence was met as a health problem and drug use behaviour as a public nuisance problem. Low threshold health services including opioid maintenance treatment were combined with outreach social work and effective policing.

Conclusion

Prevention, harm reduction and treatment should be combined with law enforcement based on cooperation between police, health care and social services. The aim should be “coexistence” between society and users of illegal substances and the strategy based on several years planning and conjoint efforts. The solutions are found in appropriate combinations of harm reduction and restrictive measures.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 Waal et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

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