The care center for drug addicts worries the high school students of the 16th, in Paris

• The town hall of Paris announced on May 18 the opening of a reception center for drug addicts in the 16th arrondissement.

• Together with their mayor Francis Szpiner (LR), local residents and high school students express their disagreement and concerns about the project.

• Anne Souyris, assistant to Anne Hidalgo in charge of public health, wants to be reassuring.

  She affirms that they are only voluntary patients in phase of care, without danger for the district.

While the presence of crack users inconveniences the residents of the northeast of Paris, the town hall tries to find the parade.

Among the solutions, the opening up of drug addicts via dilution by spacing out as much as possible the areas where the “crazy” people meet, buy, consume, and take care of themselves.

With this in mind, Anne Souyris, assistant to Anne Hidalgo in charge of public health, announced on May 18 the opening of a reception center for drug addicts in the 16th arrondissement.

"Very good news", according to the municipality.

Francis Szpiner, mayor of the 16th arrondissement, immediately opposed the project.

The elected LR even launched a petition with his voters addressed to the Regional Health Agency to block.

went to meet the residents of the former Chardon-Lagache hospital, which is to accommodate drug addicts in the healing phase.

“I have a lot of customers who complain about this”

The worry.

This is probably the word that best sums up the concerns of the inhabitants of this 16th district.

Amandine, surrounded by her two children, faces the future center.

The 30-year-old understands the need to open these centers, but finds it “a pity to do it here”.

She, who is used to taking her children for walks in Sainte-Périne Park, fears that the area will become a new haven for crack users, "In this park, there are so many places where they could settle.

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Antoine is a merchant a few hundred meters from the old hospital.

If he does not feel his business is directly endangered by the establishment of the center, he testifies to having “a lot of customers who complain about that.

“Despite the petition, the bookseller in his fifties seems resigned “it's always like that.

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"You have to be very careful, there are high schools around"

Alain, an 83-year-old retiree, is torn between mistrust and the need to help addicts.

This member of the Republicans says he is “always for solidarity”, he continues: “I do not blame them, we must treat the sick.

But according to him, the installation of this center shows that the French health system has failed in recent years.

“This center must fit into a global health policy.

However, Alain is worried about a situation that could escape the control of the town hall.

If he is reassured because it is a reception center and not a shooting room, he “has already seen abuses”.

So you have to “be very careful, because there are several high schools around.

The octogenarian fears that the establishment of the center will attract dealers.

The high school students, in particular those of Jean-Baptiste-Say, are directly quoted by the town hall of the 16th.

While one might expect a lack of concern or even lack of interest on their part with regard to such a subject, they are concerned about this project.

“Why don't they build this center close to sensitive places?

“, ask some, while others find the idea “very stupid, because there are schools.

If places next to schools are poorly attended, parents will be afraid to let their children go there.

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Another area of ​​anxiety is the imprint drug addicts might leave: “There is influence.

Students might start taking drugs.

If the high school students are aware that the center is only intended to accommodate patients who already have a course of care and “stabilized”, according to the words of Anne Hidalgo, this does not reassure them.

“If they relapse next door, we are there.

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"As soon as we talk about a place of care, there are concerns"

For Anne Souyris, the proximity to schools and parks is an end of inadmissibility when it comes to "medical beds".

"These are people who volunteer to be hospitalized," she says.

But to understand why the 16th arrondissement was chosen for this location, just take a map.

The 19th arrondissement, an area of ​​intense consumption, is at the opposite extreme.

To treat a crack user, it is necessary “to do medicalization away from the scene of consumption”.

“The schoolboy will not see a patient bumping into the crack pipe,” insists the elected EELV.

If she understands the fears linked to the opening of a reception center for drug addicts, she assures that the residents will not be impacted.

Anne Souyris is convinced that the consumption scenes will not travel to the Chardon-Ladache hospital.

Therefore, if a patient has to relapse, he will not do so near the center.

Anne Hidalgo's deputy hopes above all that Francis Szpiner "will soon realize that it does not go against the inhabitants of his district".

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• Paris

• Ile-de-France

• Substance addiction

• Crack

• Anne Hidalgo

• Paris city hall

• Health

• High school