Drugs in Lausanne –
Faced with “emergency”, the Riponne injection room will open 15 hours a day
The Lausanne Municipal Council votes 860,000 francs more to open the premises from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. PLR and UDC oppose it.
The secure consumption area of Riponne on June 18, 2024. For drug inhalation, there are well-ventilated premises.
FLORIAN CELLA
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- The Riponne secure consumption area (ECS) is extending its opening hours.
- The ECS Riponne budget increases by 860,000 francs for this project.
- The socialists, Greens and Vert’liberals support the extension, not the PLR or the UDC.
- Criticisms focus on a lack of accessibility and security criteria.
There is “urgency” in the face of the rise in drug consumption. The Municipality’s draft budget for 2025 is already outdated on this point. The Municipal Council therefore corrected it on Tuesday evening, with the consent of the Executive. The Riponne secure consumption area (ECS) will soon be open with wider and more regular hours than to date.
For 90 hours per week
This system will open a total of 90 hours per week, compared to 58 hours today. Consumers will be able to enter from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. without breaks as currently, and without closing on Mondays and Tuesday mornings. What doesn’t change is the Sunday closing.
Tuesday evening, the Lausanne Municipal Council voted to extend the ECS Riponne budget by 860,000 francs to achieve this result. On the one hand, 600,000 francs are used to expand hours by strengthening the team of the À Bas Seuil Foundation, which manages the institution. On the other hand, 260,000 francs will be used to finance the security that goes with it.
Against the PLR and the UDC
These two socialist and Green amendments are supported by the Green Liberals. The PLR and the UDC are opposed to it. The radical left (Ensemble à Gauche) rallied behind it while its own, more generous amendments for continued opening of the ECS failed.
“The consumption space has proven itself, it is busy and must be strengthened,” explains Sarah Neumann (PS). We are truly in a situation of health, social and safety climate emergency in the city.”
The Green Liberals are moving in the same direction. They only join the PLR and the UDC on their demand to have a global debate. “The municipal majority is embarrassed not to have more anticipated this problem, which is glaring everywhere in Europe,” criticizes Virginie Cavalli (Liberal Green). We are now experiencing this delay and the policy of small steps.”
“On the run”
On the right, we recall that the ECS Riponne was opened in May 2024 by the Municipality alone, without the Council making a decision. The UDC Valentin Christe denounces “a policy on the run”. For socialist Sarah Neumann, “we can regret that crack is being deployed with a speed and scale that does not take into account the slowness of our political system”, but this does not justify refusing greater accessibility to the ECS Riponne.
The right denounces its use by non-Lausanne residents. For PLR Mathilde Maillard, “it is difficult to see how the extension of hours, without accessibility criteria, will make it possible to resolve the hellish situation in this city. The PLR is very tired of the lax policies of the left-wing majority. If necessary, we will go so far as to ask for nominative entry into the premises.”
Not an advertisement
Johann Dupuis (Ensemble à Gauche) tells the PLR: “Drugs are today available to anyone who wants them in the streets and a secure consumption space is not an advertisement for consuming them.”
Faced with criticism, the socialist municipal Emilie Moeschler concedes only one black point: the lack of coordination with security. “When we opened the Riponne branch, we would have liked the police deployment to be ready, as the Municipality wanted,” she emphasizes. That wasn’t the case. So things were done in two stages. That’s what we could have coordinated better.”
Like in Russia
Finally, without tabling an amendment, Josée-Christine Lavanchy (UDC) made a personal suggestion: “Certain methods in Russia have proven themselves. We could imagine that we would lock up the users and those who supply the drugs.”
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Jerome Cachin has been a journalist in the Vaud section since 2019, specializing in politics. He was responsible for the Vaud page of Freedom from 2003 to 2019. He is the author ofVaud political institutions, with Mix & Remix andFamily stories (100 years of Pro Familia Vaud). He is also a member of the French-speaking jury for the word of the year since 2021.More info
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