drugs
'Cafe Fix' and social workers on Frankfurt’s drug streets
In the shadows of the skyscrapers of Frankfurt’s banks, the area around the main train station sees the highest concentration of drug abuse and prostitution. But some people are trying to make a difference by helping and listening rather than judging
drugs, european central bank, prostitution, society, germany
Vienna’s green wavelengths
The Prater park, the Vienna woods and the Lobau: Vienna is green no matter which way you look. Fifty percent of the Austrian capital is made up of green spaces and in 2010 the city received the accolade of having the best quality of living worldwide from the international Mercer study. It isn’t just in internationally orientated events in the city centre like Danube Day that we see Vienna riding a green wave. Instead it is also clear in the town’s most hidden corners: some city-dwellers grow cannabis quite legally, others opt for a car-free life, and others still go back to nature and live in caravan communities. Five European reporters got to the bottom of Vienna’s green lifestyle as part of cafebabel.com’s monthly editorial project Green Europe on the Ground (Image: (cc) M'sieur Rico/ Flickr)
Reindeerspotting director Joonas Neuvonen: story of a Finnish junkie
Reindeerspotting - Escape from Santaland, a Finnish documentary about drug addicts, is a film that you will probably never see at the cinema. Widely criticised in Finland, where it is accused of promoting the use of hard drugs, it’s been a viral hit. Could this be the birth of the internet version 2.0 of Trainspotting?
drugs, cinema, helsinki, film festival, brunch, documentary, europe
Albania-Kosovo mafia, ‘cablegate’ and other cases of blindness
After two years of investigation, the council of Europe has accused the Kosovan prime minister of leading an international network trafficking organs, weapons and heroin with the silent acquiescence of European countries. Will these Wiki-Like revelations destroy public confidence in politics? Here's a little theory on scepticism
drugs, organ trafficking, corruption, nato, best of cafebabel.com, kosovo, european union
'Shooting galleries' in Europe: political jab or social cure-all?
Supervising the use of hard drugs or not is an issue that's cropping up across Europe, with some countries tackling it with a different intensity than others; the UK has three injecting clinics. While eight progressive governments have already established the centres, others wish to silence such crazy calls for change. All in the name of morality. Obviously...
drugs, switzerland, italy, health, norway, berlin, civil society
More highs, fewer lies in Prague - the new Amsterdam?
15 grams of marijuana, five grams of hashish or even 1.5 grams of heroin. Thanks to a new law that came into effect on 1 January 2010, Czechs can stock up on drugs without fear of prosecution. The Czech Republic now has the most liberal drug laws in the whole of Europe, though its preventive measures still leave something to be desired
GBL: party drug gets you high in your garage
On the weekends, this industrial solvent goes by the name 'liquid ecstasy'. From internet forums to TV chatshows, France is in uproar about the cheap stimulant you can buy in your local grocery
Drug trade: Chefchaouen, Morocco is Spain's Amsterdam
'Le Rif – paradis du Kif” (The Rif – paradise for Kif). The rhyme has become the tourist slogan for Chefchaouen, a mountainous village in North Morocco well renowned for its blue medina quarter and it’s cannabis plantations. These plantations are the point of origin for tonnes of the drug that are headed for Europe
drugs, morocco, agriculture, european union, world affairs, family, weed
Opium, the green gold of Afghanistan
Despite the efforts of the United Nations and the government, the production of opium continues to grow, inundating Europe with tonnes of heroin.
drugs, addiction, schengen, united nations, belgium, netherlands, germany
