Drug problems, community reactions and policy changes in Frankfurt/Main

Abstract

This article describes the development of drug problems in Frankfurt/Main and its handling by the city council between the late 1980s and 2005. At the city council level, different phases of drug policies are demonstrated in connection with the implementation of different strategies to handle problems caused by drug users as well as the implementation of drug treatment projects. The analyses show clearly that a short phase of enthusiasm for new strategies and programmes in the early 1990s was followed by a rather long phase of consolidation which goes together with relatively low repressive measures. Since the beginning of the new century and more so since 2002/2003 the drug policy of the city council became more and more conservative including an enormous increase in repressive measures. The year 2003 marked the end of the liberal drug policy which for a rather long time was the trademark of the city council of Frankfurt/Main.