Right-wing parties slam move by Bologna's centre-left led city council.A controversy has erupted in Italy over a decision by Bologna city council to distribute free pipes to crack users as part of trial programme financed with public funds.The aim of the "harm reduction" scheme, set to be get under way in the coming weeks, is to reduce secondary conditions among crack users - such as bleeding, tracheitis and infections - caused by the use of dirty or makeshift pipes. The cost of the measure is estimated to be around €3,500, for a total of 300 aluminium pipes, which will be distributed by local healthcare workers and can also be requested at the Fuori Binario drug treatment centre near the central railway station. The move, being introduced by the administration of Bologna's centre-left mayor Matteo Lepore, is designed to combat the increase in crack users in the city. The number of people treated for crack addiction by the Bologna local health authority as of 30 June this year, according to data cited by the local edition of La Repubblica newspaper, including 134 new cases. Last year 456 crack users were treated in Bologna, while in 2023 the number stood at 353. In 2024, around 70 people turned to the drug rehabilitation centre (SerT) to begin a recovery process. "Crack remains a substance with serious health effects, and we are aware of this" - said Bologna's welfare and security councillor Matilde Madrid - "The harm reduction policy is aimed primarily at intercepting these people: 55 per cent are Italian." Political reaction "Crack pipes distributed by the municipality of Bologna, at taxpayers' expense? This is madness" - Italy's deputy premier and leader of the right-wing Lega party Matteo Salvini wrote on social media - "Drugs are death and disgusting. They must be stopped, not encouraged". Galeazzo Bignami, the leader of prime minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Fratelli d'Italia (FdI) party in the lower house, slammed the move as "a real inducement to drug use and addiction". "Bologna has decided to use public money to pay for crack pipes, thus keeping drug addicts in the drug cage, a decision that incentivises cocaine and heroin use" - FdI senator Marco Lisei said - "We are dealing with a drug-dealing municipality." Photo credit: Joa Souza / Shutterstock.com.

A controversy has erupted in Italy over a decision by Bologna city council to distribute free pipes to crack users as part of trial programme financed with public funds. The aim of the "harm reduction" scheme, set to be get under way in the coming weeks, is to reduce secondary conditions among crack users - such as bleeding, tracheitis and infections - caused by the use of dirty or makeshift pipes. The cost of the measure is estimated to be around €3,500, for a total of 300 aluminium pipes, which will be distributed by local healthcare workers and can also be requested at the Fuori Binario drug treatment centre near the central railway station. The move, being introduced by the administration of Bologna's centre-left mayor , is designed to combat the increase in crack users in the city. The number of people treated for crack addiction by the Bologna local health authority as of 30 June this year, according to data cited by the local edition of La Repubblica newspaper, including 134 new cases. Last year 456 crack users were treated in Bologna, while in 2023 the number stood at 353. In 2024, around 70 people turned to the drug rehabilitation centre () to begin a recovery process. "Crack remains a substance with serious health effects, and we are aware of this" - said Bologna's welfare and security councillor Matilde Madrid - "The harm reduction policy is aimed primarily at intercepting these people: 55 per cent are Italian." Political reaction "Crack pipes distributed by the municipality of Bologna, at taxpayers' expense? This is madness" - Italy's deputy premier and leader of the right-wing Lega party Matteo Salvini wrote on social media - "Drugs are death and disgusting. They must be stopped, not encouraged". Galeazzo Bignami, the leader of prime minister Giorgia Meloni's right-wing Fratelli d'Italia (FdI) party in the lower house, slammed the move as "a real inducement to drug use and addiction". "Bologna has decided to use public money to pay for crack pipes, thus keeping drug addicts in the drug cage, a decision that incentivises cocaine and heroin use" - FdI senator Marco Lisei said - "We are dealing with a drug-dealing municipality." Photo credit: Joa Souza / Shutterstock.com.