Several associations specializing in addiction filed appeals on Thursday to annul the order of the police prefect banning groups of crack users in the capital and in Seine-Saint-Denis, believing that this hinders their work.
This decree, renewed every month since April 2023, is
“a serious and manifestly illegal attack on the fundamental right to health protection and the right to life”
, against which the associations Oppelia, SAFE, Addictions France, Gaïa and Fédération addiction filed an emergency appeal and an appeal for abuse of power before the Paris administrative court, they indicated during a press conference.
This is
“an attempt to “invisibilize” (...) which cannot but be linked to the upcoming hosting of the Olympic Games”
, accuse these associations in the document sent to the courts and of which AFP obtained a copy.
In this context, these medico-social actors notice a deterioration in their working conditions, because they find it increasingly difficult to have access to the targeted population due to their dispersion.
Paris “smooth and clean for the Olympics”
Oppelia Charonne, the Parisian structure of Oppelia, noted in particular four deaths between September and December 2023 which
“could perhaps have been avoided if there had been better support”
, estimated its director Abdou N'Diaye.
The
“nerve of the war”
in the fight against crack,
“is access to care”
, insisted Jean-Pierre Couteron, the president of Oppelia.
“We understand the context well, ensuring that Paris is smooth and clean for the Olympic Games, but here we are touching on things that merit caution
,” judged Bernard Basset, president of Addiction France.
Association leaders asked for more consultation with the authorities, believing that this short-term repressive policy was not the solution.
“The problem of crack in Paris affects a lot of factors.
It is necessary that we can have spaces to discuss it, to make it a common project, to compare points of view but above all to find solutions together
,” insisted Naïra Meliava, general director of Oppelia.
Associations, the city of Paris, police headquarters and the Île-de-France region, as well as the regional health agency, meet regularly on the subject.
The next meeting will take place on March 22.
The eradication of crack in Paris, a smokable and highly addictive derivative of cocaine, has been one of the priorities of police prefect Laurent Nuñez since his appointment in July 2022.