Drug policy: Crack center approved in Frankfurt

After a very lively, two-hour debate in Frankfurt's Römer, 54 of the 88 city councilors present voted in favor of establishing a new addiction treatment center specifically for crack addicts. The FDP, although part of the governing coalition in Frankfurt, voted against the project. The motion's clause, which stated that out-of-town drug users should be turned away, failed to gain a majority.

"The city council's decision is a clear commitment to a modern drug policy," said Elke Voitl (The Greens), the social and health minister responsible for the addiction support center, following the vote. "Frankfurt is the first city in Germany to respond to crack cocaine and fentanyl with a clear step." The situation will improve not only for drug addicts in the city, "but especially for everyone in the train station district."

Frankfurt's central goal with the addiction support center is to change the sometimes catastrophic conditions in Frankfurt's centrally located Bahnhofsviertel district, the center of the drug scene, but also a nightlife district and gateway to the city center. The support services are aimed at a new generation of drug addicts who, due to crack use, are increasingly using drugs on the streets and are also exhibiting greater and faster signs of impoverishment.

Voitl envisions a property at Niddastraße 76, near the main train station and on the border of the Bahnhofsviertel, as the location for the new addiction center.

With the city parliament's decision, Frankfurt is continuing the so-called Frankfurt Way. This approach is based primarily on treating drug addicts as addicts and directing repression against dealers and the trade in illegal drugs.

Frankfurt was the first German city to take this approach in the early 1990s to save lives. In 1991, there were nearly 150 heroin addict deaths in Frankfurt. Since the Frankfurt Way began, between 20 and 40 drug-related deaths have been recorded annually.

The question of whether the decision to build the new addiction support center necessarily entails the City of Frankfurt's requirement that out-of-town users be turned away remained controversial until recently. There was no majority in the city parliament for this requirement on Thursday evening, despite Frankfurt's mayor, Mike Josef (SPD), having strongly advocated for it in consultation with the Frankfurt police.

Josef had recently announced in a specially convened press conference that "we can no longer supply all of southern Germany." The city must make it clear that "Frankfurt is no longer a place where anyone can buy and consume drugs." The Left Party faction in the Römer, in particular, had opposed this by calling for assistance for everyone. Supporting those affected in their recovery from addiction must be a "top priority"; it is "a humanitarian duty." During the debate, Left Party faction leader Dominike Pauli accused the mayor of using his proposal "to gain a populist profile at the expense of those affected and the entire project."

While some now fear that the omission of the wording in the resolution to reject out-of-town users could call into question the entire concept of the new help center, even turning it into a new "addiction magnet," as the FDP had put it, SPD parliamentary group leader Ursula Busch does not share these concerns.

As she made clear in the debate, she is convinced that planning law requirements such as compliance with the principle of consideration and the formulation of the concept for the facility will ultimately ensure that there will be admission restrictions in line with the city's wishes.

Late in the evening, Mayor Mike Josef also commented on the conclusion that the ban on out-of-town consumers had been removed from at least one of the approved motions. The relevant passage remains in another part of the motion.

Josef said it was "good that the center is coming." However, he regretted that the corresponding regulation that was supposed to regulate access to this facility no longer exists. He continued to believe that making the city's drug assistance available only to local users was the right approach. The debate on this is by no means over. It will arise again, at the very latest, when it comes to building regulations. The requirement to be considerate to residents must be observed. For this reason alone, it is not possible to "open access to everyone without control."

The pilot project, which the city recently launched with the drug emergency service of the "Youth Counseling and Youth Services" association, is to be continued. Josef said that so far, the association has received "good feedback."

Regarding the result of the vote, Josef said he was "surprised that the party that had campaigned most strongly for the rejection of foreigners," namely the FDP, had now spoken out against it, even though it had emphasized the need to reduce the drug scene at its own party conference.

The separate vote on the addiction center on the one hand and on the controversial passage on the other "would have given the FDP the opportunity to vote against the facility, but still support stricter regulation of the drug scene. Then, with this narrow result, the regulation would also have been passed."

Instead, the city must now continue to cope with the fact that the Bahnhofsviertel district is reaching its limits. He understands the fate of drug addicts. "But we also have a responsibility to the general public in this city. Frankfurt needs this paradigm shift." Acceptance for such projects will not increase "if we don't at least create a framework."

The recently approved establishment of the new crack addiction support center at Niddastraße 76 has led to a split in the coalition in the Römer (Römer) consisting of the Greens, SPD, FDP, and Volt in recent weeks. This was also reflected in the vote, in which the FDP rejected the addiction support center and the purchase of the property at the proposed location near Frankfurt Central Station. The FDP had repeatedly called on its partners in the Römer to adhere to the coalition agreement by voting only as a joint coalition of four.

However, the Greens, SPD, and Volt, along with opposition parties such as the Left Party, Ökolinx-ELF, and "Die Fraktion," voted in favor of the addiction support center. In addition to the FDP, the CDU, AfD, and BFF-BIG factions also voted against it.

It is not yet clear what consequences the FDP in Frankfurt will draw from this vote, and whether the decision nine months before the Hessian local elections will actually lead to a breakup of the coalition in the Römer. Frankfurt FDP party leader Frank Maiwald announced that evening that "after such a day, we cannot move on to the next item on the agenda." Maiwald warned against a hasty decision. How the cooperation in the Römer will continue "will be discussed in the committees."

In recent weeks, residents, property owners, restaurateurs, and hoteliers have voiced criticism of the centrally located facility. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry, representing Frankfurt's business community, also emphasized on Tuesday that it "sees a significant need for discussion regarding the location of the crack addiction support center."

In addition, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry had suggested setting up a staff unit under the Mayor of Frankfurt to address the challenges in the Bahnhofsviertel beyond the open drug scene in order to coordinate the approach effectively and permanently.