Fight against drugs: Families in the Berlin Wrangelkiez alerted by dangerous conditions in playgrounds

Fight against drugs: Families in the Berlin Wrangelkiez alerted by dangerous conditions in playgrounds

drug problems in wrangelkiez: parents beat alarm

Berlin-The Wrangelkiez and the Görlitzer Park in Berlin-Kreuzberg are a popular place to live and relax for many people. But for Mattis G. (45) and his family, the situation in her quarter is becoming increasingly unbearable. The father of a six-year-old child reports about open drug use, crack smoking and finding drug capsules and injections in playgrounds. The situation comes to a head and the parents raise the alarm.

Mattis G. moved to Wrangelkiez 16 years ago and has observed since then how all political measures fail to improve the situation. The ever greater and open drug trafficking has become a serious problem. The situation in particular at the Görlitzer Straße/Falckensteinstraße playground was very bad. Aggression and shouting are part of everyday life.

The concerned father tells of various terrifying experiences that he and his child had in the past few weeks. So he saw Junkies, who prepared a heroin syringe in the stairwell, an uppatated man who stepped indiscriminately against a woman's bicycle, and a young man who consumed drugs just a few meters away from the children. The incident was particularly shocking when the children found a bag with a white powder in a climbing ship on the playground. Fortunately, the powder was not consumed, but the danger is omnipresent. Empty capsules and even a syringe filled with blood have already been found.

The parents in wrangelkiez now warn each other when they see junkie waste. The playgrounds are littered and often have to be cleaned. According to Mattis G., politics and administration are unfortunately rather helpless in this situation. He recognizes the complexity of the problem because the dealers have a hard time finding different work and the addicts often live in poverty. Solution approaches are needed from all sides to cope with the complex situation.

Finally there was a positive development: the Falkensteinstrasse/Görlitzerstraße playground was surrounded with a high fence and an access gate was installed that is opened in the morning and closed in the evening. The parents in the district fought for this measure for years. Mattis G. hopes that this will improve the situation, but at the same time is sad that playgrounds have to be sealed off.

The Wrangelkiez and Görlitzer Park stand for diversity and liveliness, but the current situation is worried to the parents. Public space is dominated by drug trafficking and its consequences, and families feel uncertain and uncomfortable. Solutions are urgently needed so that the Wrangelkiez remains a livable home for everyone.