"It could be pure coincidence, but the fact that the addiction care center in the western German city of Essen, population 600,000, is located on Hoffnungsstrae ("Hope Street") could also be a sign. It represents hope for the people struggling with addiction, who can find somewhere they can get a free meal and a place to sleep. Hope Street is also the place where they can snort, smoke or inject heroin in sterile drug consumption rooms, under supervision."
"Since the drug consumption room opened in 2001, there has not been a single death there, Stolz reports with satisfaction. But the latest, even more dangerous drugs are already on the doorstep. In large German cities such as Frankfurt or Berlin synthetic opioids like fentanyl or nitazenes, which are mixed with heroin, have long been on the streets. Even a small amount, the size of a grain of salt, can kill."
"Latest trend: Taking drugs live on TikTok Essen addiction care spokesperson Ruben Planert has observed a worrying new trend which began during the COVID-19 pandemic: an increasing number of young people consuming anxiety-reducing benzodiazepine and opioids live on social platforms like TikTok, as the dealers wait in the comments. Planert told DW: "Recently we had a young man in our youth facility who spent 5 days in a coma after smoking fentanyl. An overdose with respiratory paralysis, which with pure heroin is possible but very unlikely.""
An addiction care center on Hoffnungsstraße in Essen provides free meals, shelter and supervised sterile drug consumption rooms where people can snort, smoke or inject heroin. Since 2001 there has not been a single death at the facility. Patterns of use are changing as long-term intravenous heroin users increasingly smoke crack, accelerating deterioration through rapid cycles of use and purchase. Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and nitazenes are appearing in larger German cities, often mixed with heroin, and even tiny amounts can be lethal. A pandemic-era trend of live drug use on social platforms has exposed young people to dealers and heightened overdose incidents.
Read at www.dw.com
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