Fentanyl: Germany prepares for a synthetic opioid crisis DW 09/15/2025

"It could be pure coincidence, but the fact that the addiction care center in the western German city of Essen, population 600,000, is located on Hoffnungsstrae ("Hope Street" ) could also be a sign. Hope for the people struggling with addiction, who find somewhere they can get a free meal and a place to sleep. Hope Street is also the place where they can snort, smoke or inject heroin in sterile drug consumption rooms, under supervision."

""The scene is changing," said Caspar Stolz from the harm reduction team in Essen. "Even people who have been consuming intravenous heroin for 15 years are now smoking crack," he said. "The people deteriorate quicker because they can sometimes no longer escape the spiral of '15-minute kick, get money, buy crack.'" Sterile syringes are provided under medical supervision at the drug consumption room Image: Oliver Pieper/DW Since the drug consumption room opened in 2001, there has not been a single death there, Stolz reports with satisfaction."

"In large German cities such as Frankfurt or Berlin synthetic opioids like fentanyl or nitazenes, which are mixed with heroin, have long been on the streets. Even a small amount, the size of a grain of salt, can kill. Essen addiction care spokesperson Ruben Planert has observed a worrying new trend which began during the COVID-19 pandemic: an increasing number of young people consuming anxiety-reducing benzodiazepine and opioids live on social platforms like TikTok."

An addiction care center on Hoffnungsstraa ("Hope Street") in Essen offers free meals, shelter and supervised drug consumption rooms where sterile syringes are provided. Since opening in 2001 there has not been a single death inside the facility. Consumption patterns have shifted toward smoking crack, accelerating deterioration through rapid cycles of use and purchase. Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and nitazenes are increasingly present, often mixed with heroin, and tiny amounts can be lethal. A pandemic-era trend shows young people consuming benzodiazepines and opioids live on social platforms like TikTok while dealers solicit in comments, raising overdose risks.

Read at www.dw.com