These results measured in the laboratory seem to be verified in daily life in Antwerp. The followingnoon is calm at the Free Clinic, a structure that comes to the aid of problematic consumers. In the entrance hall, a dozing man sits on the floor, half a liter of strong beer in his hand. From the outset, Tino Ruyters, the director of the Free Clinic warns us: ” Here, we welcome consumers with a very heavy addiction. “
The often precarious and marginalized public that turns to this association generally touches several drugs, sometimes for a very long time. Tino Ruyters classifies consumers into two broad categories. “ There is a very large group of consumers who can be considered recreational users. They take cocaine at parties, or on weekends. And there is a smaller group of problematic consumers. There is a feeling that the casual user group is growing. “The number of problematic consumers seems to him to be rather stable.
Robin Fernandez shares this sentiment. He is a psychosocial worker at the Free Clinic and meets consumers daily. ” I think it’s more the number of occasional users that is increasing “. Robin Fernandez does not hesitate to speak of a form of trivialization of the consumption of cocaine. ” When someone says they’re going to take a line of coke, before, it would have provoked reactions. Now much less, I think. I can hardly speak for all of society, but when I hear people talking regarding coke, it’s as if they’re going to smoke a cigarette, drink a coffee or a cola. “As time passed, the cocaine took up more and more space according to the observations of the director, Tino Ruyters.” A few years ago, most questions to our inquiry point were regarding cannabis. There was a slip. Today it is cocaine which has replaced cannabis as the main product of concern. “
