Crack use puts legal drug spaces at risk

– A boom in cheap crack cocaine is posing challenges to Switzerland’s permissive drug strategy, not least to Geneva’s safe injection rooms.

Behind Geneva’s main railway station, a lime-green container structure called Quai 9 offers a space where people can legally shoot up, inhale or sniff drugs under medical supervision.

The site has more than two decades of experience in handling and supporting hard drug users.

But it has been unable to deal with a sudden surge in the use of crack: a cheap cocaine derivative which can cause paranoia, and aggressive and violent behaviour.

The boom has triggered rampant insecurity, forcing Quai 9 to temporarily close its “shoot-up room” to crack users.

“We have been open for 20 years, working with heroin and injected cocaine, but crack has caused us some difficulties,” said Olivier Stabile, who works with the Premiere Ligne (Front Line) association that runs Quai 9.

“We couldn’t ensure the safety of the other drug users and we preferred to take a little break,” he said.

The use of crack, a highly addictive drug with dire health impacts, has been surging in several European countries in recent years.

In Geneva, the boom really took off in late 2021 as the Covid lockdown period ended, with consumption doubling in 2022, according to regional authorities.

Observers point to the emergence of small, readymade doses which suddenly became widely available at record low prices of around $10 (about R190).

But that means users are seeking out $10 hits “around every 15 minutes”, said David Perrin, a social health worker with Premiere Ligne, adding that the constant hunt for cash was synonymous with violence.

Wary of the risks posed by crack users, Quai 9 nonetheless remains intent on providing support.

While waiting for the authorities to find a solution for safely welcoming crack users back into the shootup room, Quai 9 has set up a night-time watch system.

Once a week, Premiere Ligne volunteers patrol the areas where users hang out, handing out water, energy bars and clean crack pipes, which are aimed at helping reduce the transmission of diseases like hepatitis C. –