'The capital of crack' - Why can't Paris deal with its drug problem?
For 30 years, crack has flooded one part of Paris without authorities being able to get the problem under control. Why can't the French capital kick its drug habit?
Thursday, December 17, 2020
For 30 years, crack has been the bane of this part of the capital, near Place Stalingrad, in the less glamorous northeast of the city. Since last year, city officials have stepped up efforts to curb the use of the drug: more police patrols, arresting dealers and providing housing for addicts. So far, however, it has all been in vain. For Paris is the capital of crack, he says: the only place in France where you can find it on sale, ready-made. Anywhere else, and you would have to "cook" it yourself, buying the cocaine then cutting it with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), or ammonia. The city puts the number of crack users in Paris at 1,500. Police and prosecutors have resisted plans to set aside spaces for addicts where they can take their drugs away from public areas.
