Lisbon Moves to Recapture Heroin Haven

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2000. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Lisbon Moves to Recapture Heroin Haven

Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com) (12/15/00) P. A56
Pereira, Cristiana

Casal Ventoso, a drug-ridden slum in Portugal's capital of Lisbon, is slowly being cleaned up. Already, the government is destroying the shacks and tents where people lived, replacing them with new houses. One physician who works at a shelter for homeless addicts from Casal Ventoso has described the slum as the most powerful drug haven in all of Europe, with as many as 5,000 people going there every day to buy drugs at one point. On the streets of Casal Ventoso, police make frequent raids on the slum, addicts sell drug paraphernalia, and health workers exchange used syringes for new ones as part of an effort to stem the spread of HIV. While there are no official statistics for the number of drug users in the country, the doctor estimates that approximately 100,000 people are hooked on heroin.
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