They rush back and forth, up and down, in and out. They are emaciated, their faces pale, their eyes sunken. They have hunched backs, open wounds or bumps, scan the area nervously, talk loudly and aggressively. The people in front of the street kitchen this early afternoon Lucerne wander around, only have one thing on their minds: the next stone. Crack.
Cocaine cooked with baking soda has been spreading throughout the country for three years Switzerland rapidly. The drug is smoked in a pipe, becomes addictive with breathtaking speed – and destroys its users just as quickly. It’s not just Zurich, Geneva or Basel that are affected by the crack epidemic. Open crack scenes have also formed in small and medium-sized Swiss cities: in the city park of Chur as well as at the Neumarkt in Brugg and at the train station in Lucerne. The city of lights is now called “Crack City” in the local press. The addicts beg and harass in the middle of the city, they steal and work. What remains is garbage and feces.
