Köln’s mayor, Torsten Burmester of the SPD, has announced a city‑wide initiative that brings together German major cities to tackle drug problems in urban hotspots.
Burmester told the Focus magazine that the key to reducing violence and public disorder is to legally regulate what he calls “micro‑trade” – the dispensing, distribution, and sale of drugs within addiction treatment centres. He argues that a blanket ban on drugs and the pressure to drive people into supply‑crime is the wrong approach; instead, “we need a new mindset and changes to federal legislation”.
He is already consulting with other local leaders. “With my mayoral colleague in Düsseldorf, Stephan Keller (CDU), we agree that both the federal government and the states must be involved” Burmester added. All large German cities face similar challenges, he said: “Crack users must use their drug roughly every 30 minutes, putting them under constant pressure. We can’t simply let these people roam free in our parks and squares”.
In Köln, the first concrete step is to open a drug‑support centre next to the neighbourhood around Neumarkt, identified as a key hotspot.
Alongside expanding support services, Burmester is implementing a zero‑tolerance policy for public spaces. “We will no longer tolerate the storage of drugs, public consumption, or aggressive begging” he said. Police and local authorities will increase patrols and enforcement to crack down on both consumption and dealing in public areas.
