Geneva struggles with crack-cocaine epidemic

Shelters in Geneva are so overwhelmed with the rising number of crack-cocaine addicts that they are being forced to turn people away. Keystone / Christof Schuerpf

The number of crack-cocaine addicts is rapidly rising in the western Swiss city of Geneva, causing concern among drug prevention officials.

The organisation Addiction Switzerland has sounded the alarm, saying that dealers from France, Nigeria and Guinea have recently infiltrated the city.

+ Read how the shipping industry fuels the drugs trade

“Until now, cocaine that is smoked – or crack – was mainly widespread in German-speaking Switzerland, for example in Solothurn but also in Zurich and Basel,” Addiction Switzerland deputy director Frank Zobel told Le Temps newspaper.

“Geneva was the exception as a ‘city of heroin’. People here used to prepare their own crack from powdered cocaine.”

The Geneva addiction shelter Quai 9 has seen a significant rise in the number of observed crack addicts – from 3,400 in 2019 to more than 17,000 last year. Crack addicts now represent 62% of all people who turn to Quai 9 for help.

+ Read how Bern wants to legalise the sale of cocaine

Quai 9 has found itself unable to cope with the sudden rise in crack addicts in the city and has been forced to turn people away. Addiction Switzerland has called on the city authorities to act.

“We have to take this warning signal very seriously,” said Zobel. “It is essential to think of responses to this crisis and set up an action plan, learning from the example of cities that have already faced this type of problem, such as Dublin, Paris or London.”

+ Switzerland rivals Amsterdam as a cocaine hotspot

Zobel says there is a need for more accommodation spaces and better treatment for addicts. At the same time, he demands action from the police and authorities against dealers.

The new supplies of crack-cocaine entering the city are both of poor quality and more addictive than the homemade version of the drug, he added.