Platzspitz or the 'Needle Park', June 1990
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An addict searches for a vein, June 1990
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A local organisation, the Platzspitz working group, gave out warm meals and tea, February 1989.
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The area was first closed during the night on January 13, 1992.
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On January 13, 1992, police closed off the park and asked the drug users to leave.
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Cleaning the park, August 1990.
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On February 5, 1992, the park stayed closed during the day.
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The Platzspitz or “Needle Park” in Zurich was an open drugs scene in the 1980s and early 90s when heroin users could freely inject the drug without being arrested. As addicts and dealers flooded in from across Europe, the world looked on in horror, until authorities shut it down in 1992.
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Located just behind the Swiss National Museum, close to the city’s central railway station, it was open from 1987. It gained notoriety as the situation spiraled out of control, with hundreds of dealers and addicts packed into the park, and many people desperately needing urgent medical care on a daily basis. A number of doctors volunteered their time, at first against the will of the authorities, to treat drug users with infected, weeping wounds or in cases of overdoses, and to hand out clean needles. The authorities then allowed the doctors to work in this way in the park.
However, the authorities later gave into heavy political pressure and police were sent in leading to chaotic scenes of addicts being forced to flee, without any alternative to turn to. No organised social support had been set up in its place. “Needle Park” closed for good on February 5, 1992. A heavy gate was put in place across the entrance to the park.
The abrupt end to the open scene led addicts and dealers to move to a new spot nearby in the Letten area, between an unused railway station and the side of the river Limmat. This spot was also eventually cleared by police in 1995.
The experience meant that a highly pragmatic approach to drug use was adopted in Switzerland. Needle exchanges were set up, clean injection rooms with medical staff on hand, a methadone prescription programme and even a heroin prescription programme now exists for heavily dependent addicts.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
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Ten years on from Needle Park
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The Platzspitz, which had become known as “Needle Park”, attracted hundreds of heroin addicts daily. In the park, users from all over Europe bought their drugs, and injected them openly. Some social workers and doctors treating drug addicts believed the Platzspitz had its advantages – at least addicts were in one specific place where they…
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The Platzspitz is a park in Zurich adjacent to the Swiss National Museum and the main railway station. In an attempt to confine the sprawling use of drugs, the authorities decided in 1987 to allow the use and sales of drugs in the park. Thus Zurich’s Platzspitz became one of the biggest open drug scenes…
‘Without the heroin programme I’d probably be dead’
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Switzerland has distributed heroin to addicts legally for the past 20 years. Around 1,500 people receive the drug under supervision.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.