Crack cocaine crisis escalates in Switzerland

Since 2020, crack consumption has tripled in French-speaking Switzerland and is spreading rapidly across the country, including Lugano. A user shares her experience with Swiss public television, RSI. She has been consuming this destructive drug for years. “It’s hard for me to accept that I’m always searching for crystal – I only think about crack,” she confesses. Fabienne, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, is 35, has been unemployed for months and spends her time seeking money to buy crack. Once the effect, which lasts just under half an hour, wears off, she immediately craves another dose, entering a vicious cycle from which she struggles to break free. We meet Fabienne in Lausanne’s new consumption room, which opened in May just steps away from Place de la Riponne, the city’s main open drug scene. According to a study by the University of Lausanne (UNIL), Lausanne has now become the Swiss capital of crack consumption. Swiss public television, RSI, was granted ...