Anyone who sees Artur Schroers - inconspicuous short haircut, simple glasses, dark jacket - might not first think of a fighter.

But he is one: he has punched through syringe vending machines and contact cafés.

Why was that a fight?

When Schroers began studying addiction support more than 30 years ago in Münster, drug users still had to be abstinent in order to get advice at all, he says.

Giving out a clean syringe so someone can take a shot?

Unthinkable.

Theresa White

Editor in the Rhein-Main-Zeitung.

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But Schroers has been convinced since his first days in the business: offers of help for drug users must be as accessible as possible.

"Addiction help must be accepting." This opinion is now standard.

Anyone who takes drugs needs resources to live a healthier life or to grow out of the addiction.

Without an apartment, a stabilizing environment or perhaps a job that gives structure, it is much more difficult to overcome the pressure of addiction.

Resources that cushion consumption

The resource thing sounds awkward at first.

But Schroers gives an example: Statistics show that people with a higher socioeconomic status drink far more alcohol than those with a lower one.

That's right: According to the standards of the Federal Center for Health Education, alcohol consumption by many academics and high earners is considered questionable.

And yet these people rarely lie on the street with open wounds and infested with lice.

Why?

"Because they have resources that cushion their consumption," says Schroers: They have living space, i.e. a place of protection and retreat.

They have money for food and toiletries and health insurance.

This is not the case for many clients of drug services.

This is exactly where Schroers wants to start.

Artur Schroers has been head of the drug department of the city of Frankfurt since July.

He will share the post with the previous manager, Regina Ernst, until January.

She will then retire, and henceforth Schroers will be solely responsible for implementing the city's drug policy.

The 58-year-old sociologist previously worked in Münster, Hamburg, Vienna, Bratislava and Mainz, where he worked partly in addiction support and partly in research.

Along the way, he's solidified his belief in how drug policy works.

Most take crack

In Frankfurt Schroers wants to continue this path of accepting drug help.

But he also says: "The Frankfurt way must be developed further." The existing help must be better networked, for example the offers for the homeless and drug users, since both groups have a large overlap.

In addition, drug help must be adapted to the changed consumption situation: In the 1990s, Frankfurt was still a heroin stronghold.

The Frankfurt way in drug policy, the great liberalization in the nineties, was tailored to this with consumption rooms and methadone programs.

In the meantime, the most severely addicted, who are mainly in the "waterways" at the train station, usually take something else, at least on the side: crack.

That's a problem.

"Crack hits fast and massive," explains Schroers.

Massive, that means: Anyone who has taken crack feels the intoxication immediately, feels stimulated, strong, invincible or simply not as miserable as before.

The drug is also popular for other reasons: the cut is cheaper than cocaine and always available in big cities like Frankfurt through the air and rail hub.

In addition to the damage to everything from brain to heart, the drug has another catch: the high wears off quickly.

So consumers are constantly adding to it.

And are becoming more and more active, aggressive and self-overestimating.

"That changes the dynamics in the scene," says Schroers.

There are still few ideas on how crack consumption can be curbed.

A kind of substitution with cannabis, which has a calming effect and could alleviate the pressure of addiction, is being discussed internationally.

On October 4th, the drug department will hold a specialist conference on the subject.

Scientific insights into how to deal with crack will be discussed there and a guideline will be developed.

Pandemic has made things worse

Addicts face other challenges, however.

Many have “co-morbidities”, as Schroers calls them: mental illnesses, physical ailments, anxiety disorders.

The heat is bothering them at the moment.

And the pandemic has worsened their situation overall, as Schroers says.

Actually, the development - more open consumption, more impoverishment on the streets - is proof of his conviction that drug help must be low-threshold.

Because when, due to the contact restrictions, many facilities reduced their places or had to establish a kind of admission control in order to comply with distance requirements and hygiene regulations, that tended to drive people away from the offers of help.

"Regulated and controlled states don't sit well with people who are substance-driven," says Schroers.

So how does the new head of department intend to improve the situation?

As a touchstone for his work, Schroers considers it particularly important that what the city has to offer is “accessible”.

With case-by-case control, i.e. the individual consideration of the respective drug user and his personal needs, he wants to ensure that the people get help.

The structures for this are there – but Schroers admits that there could be a shortage of staff.

In close cooperation with the other departments concerned, he wants to maintain the accepting path and adapt it to the changed situation of the people.

He calls it “being pragmatic”.

Only in this way can Frankfurt become what it once was in drug policy: a role model.