Request exceeds offer at drug-check in Berlin
Since June 2023, consumers have been able to have their drugs checked. Over 1,000 Berliners have already used this offer, the oldest of whom is 76 years old. It is unclear how the project will continue, as it will not be financially secured after 2025.
For a year now, there has been the so-called Drugchecking project in Berlin. It is used to prevent health risks such as overdoses or contaminated drugs. The demand is high and exceeds the current offer significantly. In the first year of the Drugchecking project, 1,818 samples were analyzed, and 785 requests had to be rejected, as the Senate Department for Science, Health, and Care reports.
Based on the samples, 848 warnings were issued, for example, due to high dosages, false declarations, or contamination. MDMA was tested most frequently (453), but various amphetamines (638), cocaine (280), and ketamine derivatives (184) were also tested frequently.
The offer for substance analysis targets both drug addicts who consume daily and weekend partygoers. All users and userettes have the opportunity to test their drugs for free, anonymously, and legally. As RBB reports, the clientele of the drug testing station is rather young; three quarters were under 40 years old. The oldest customer was a 76-year-old.
The Berlin project makes a valuable contribution to the de-stigmatization of addiction help, as well as preventing overdoses, according to the Green spokesperson for drug policy, Vasili Franco. The project reaches consumers who were not reached by existing prevention and counseling offers before. Consumers of illegal substances also have a right to health protection.
However, it seems that interested parties will have to be sent home in the future. Despite the high demand, "an expansion of the offers due to the available means in 2025 is not possible," Franco says. The project is secured for the year 2024, but new funds must be applied for after that.
Despite the success of the Drugchecking project in preventing health issues among young partygoers and older individuals alike, financing beyond 2025 remains uncertain. Even though MDMA, amphetamines, cocaine, and ketamine derivatives continue to be tested frequently in ecstasy, the project may struggle to expand its services internationally due to financial constraints.
