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Redevelopment Pushes Berlin’s Drug Use into Public View

Blaming gentrification for exposing drug use on Berlin’s streets by eliminating informal spaces, Fixpunkt urges authorities to establish supervised consumption facilities.

Overview

  • Syringes and drug paraphernalia are increasingly visible in busy subway stations and parks, illustrating how consumption has shifted to highly frequented public areas.
  • Fixpunkt warns that the arrival of crack and a large-scale cocaine trade has introduced a new layer of complexity to Berlin’s street-level drug markets.
  • Despite heightened visibility, service providers lack reliable data on whether the overall number of users in Berlin has actually grown.
  • The group criticizes current policy as slow and dependent on displacement tactics—such as park closures and police cordons—that fail to reduce drug trafficking.
  • Fixpunkt points to Swiss tolerance zones as a model for safer consumption rooms and calls for targeted policing against weapons and violent disputes among dealers.