Use of alcohol and illicit drugs in public and nightlife – challenges and suggestions for solutions for municipalities – DRUSEC

DRUSEC consortium
Use of alcohol and illicit drugs in public and nightlife – challenges and suggestions for solutions for municipalities
(Drugs and urban security)

Short description
The proposed project features partners from different scientific fields, with a focus on human geography in the French team and a social scientific focus in the German team.
The proposal aims at researching security risks associated with drug use in (semi-)public settings, e.g. “open drug scenes” or nightlife settings. Measures that may reduce the risks of such “drug places” for users and the general public will be identified and evaluated. A special focus is laid on harm reduction measures like “drug checking” and drug consumption rooms, but also on cooperation between law enforcement and social work.
"Drug places" in several French and German cities will be researched with different methods such as participant observation, semi-structured interviews, expert interviews, cartography and lexicometry. The concept of "drug checking" will be extended to open drug scenes. The consortium will work on the further development of mobile devices for this measure of harm reduction.