Prague 5 has given notice to the center for drug addicts, it will end within six months
photo: Jakub Mračno, PrahaIN.cz/The map shows a qualified estimate of the number of residents in urban areas who are dealing with the problem of addiction to alcohol, drugs or have gambling problems.
Prague 5 terminated the lease of the contact center for drug addicts, which is located in Mahenova Street near the U Zvonu tram stop. The center must vacate the premises within six months. Prague 5 mayor Renáta Zajíčková (ODS) told ČTK.
The municipality has long criticized the presence of a large number of drug addicts in the area, according to the mayor, it was not possible to find another solution. The non-profit organization Progressive, which operates the center, could not find other premises.
Zajíčková has long criticized the fact that two of the three contact centers are in Prague 5, where the substitution treatment office is also located. According to her, the city district negotiated with the Progressive organization for two years and already offered the possibility of an agreement with the end of the lease at the end of 2023, but the other party did not agree to it. “Their position is that I don’t want to accept the agreement and that they are ready to be fired,” said the mayor.
She added that following an agreement with the Technical Administration of Communications (TSK) around the U Zvonu tram stop, improvements have begun, consisting of repairing the pavement, painting the railings and cleaning. In addition, a study is being created that envisages the creation of a small square. According to the mayor, the post office branch will move from Na Zatlance street to the nearby administrative building Košířská brána.
The director of Progressiv, Vojtěch Janouškovec, told ČTK that by joining the aforementioned agreement, the organization would take on part of the responsibility for the end of the center without an alternative. According to him, the black drug trade is mainly to blame for the worsening of the situation, and the organization was the first to draw attention to the problem. “We tried to minimize it, but without deeper changes to the system and the cooperation of other actors, we couldn’t do much about it,” he said.
He added that the center was not opposed to the move from Prague 5, but it was unable to negotiate other premises anywhere in the metropolis, which is a long-standing problem. The management of the municipality recently adopted a strategy according to which the number of contact centers in Prague would increase to at least nine. Experts say years, but centers tend to decline. “It’s about political decisions,” says Janouškovec. He added that now the organization had pre-negotiated premises in Prague 8, but for unknown reasons did not get them in the end.
According to the municipality’s analysis, about 7,000 people were clients of contact centers in Prague in 2021, compared to about 6,000 a year earlier. Another roughly 10,000 people suffering from addictions used outreach programs, outpatient and similar addiction services in Prague last year. In Prague, according to figures from the municipality, about 30 percent of all problem users of illegal addictive substances in the country and about 40 percent of Prague’s drug users come from elsewhere.