During the past autumn, the City of Helsinki has stepped up its efforts to tackle the increasingly alarming drug situation.
During the past autumn, the City of Helsinki has stepped up its efforts to tackle the increasingly alarming drug situation. The City has put in place rapid measures and piloted new ways to prevent drug use, reduce its harms and support people in quitting drug use.
Pia Pulkkinen, director of substance abuse services, says that everyone up to the topmost management is taking the drug situation seriously and that more resources have been put in place to respond to it.
There are already many concrete examples of rapid action.
The most significant change compared to before is the speedier access to detoxification treatment.
"The most significant change compared to before is the speedier access to detoxification treatment. At the turn of September and October, we changed our processes so that people who need detoxification are able to access institutional care on the next working day, at the latest."
In the past, only young people, pregnant people and others with special needs have been able to access detoxification treatment as quickly. For others, the waiting time has been between two and three weeks.
Faster access to treatment is now possible thanks to an increased number of outsourced services and more efficient City units.
"Efficiency has required, above all, continuous development from the staff and an understanding of changing practices."
A treatment needs assessment is required before access to detoxification. What is new in the current situation is that, increasingly often, the treatment needs assessment can be done directly on the street. Mobile substance abuse workers also collaborate with the outreach workers from adult social work.
The need for substance abuse services is assessed, without an appointment, at the substance abuse reception at Kalasatama Health and Wellbeing Centre. The street-based outreach workers can also accompany a substance user in need of help there, if necessary.
A temporary low-threshold health counselling point has also been opened in Kontula.
Some drug users are mentally unwell, even delusional. The rules for safe encounters are even more important than before.
"Our professionals are used to supporting people with substance abuse problems, so it's not all new. However, an aggressive or confused person cannot be helped by substance abuse work alone, and you should not hesitate to seek help."
Not everyone who enters detoxification treatment on short notice has a follow-up plan in place – unlike when people enter planned treatment.
"It would not make sense for anyone to have an addict in detoxification for a few days and then send them back out on the street."
Instead, a plan is made as to how rehabilitation will continue: is institutional rehabilitation needed or is outpatient rehabilitation sufficient? The plan is prepared during inpatient treatment, at the latest.
Outsourced rehabilitation services have also been used in the past, but now their utilisation rate has increased. The aim is a smooth recovery path, which can run from detoxification up to a substance-free housing service.
A major cause of the worsening drug situation is the designer drug alpha-PVP. Wastewater studies by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) have shown that the drug is increasingly being used in the Helsinki region.
Pulkkinen says that, in the City's substance abuse services, particularly in the Symppis Day Centre and in the mobile work of professionals, the effects of alpha-PVP have been seen over the past couple of years.
According to her, similar drugs have been used in the Helsinki region for at least the last ten years, and they are not new to substance abuse workers. Alpha-PVP is somewhat different from other drugs in that it causes strong psychological symptoms, even psychosis.
Psychotic symptoms, in turn, means that the pressure on acute psychiatry is increasing in terms of treatment. In other words, care in a psychiatric ward must be made available, as well.
At the same time, care and rehabilitation services are testing new methods. For example, as alpha-PVP has become more common, people who use it have been found to have impaired concentration.
In institutional substance abuse services, the plan is to pilot a reward-based treatment approach, which has already been shown to be effective. In substance abuse treatment, people are challenged to consider whether sobriety would bring more pleasure to their lives than using substances.
The reward is often delayed and preceded by the grief of giving up a life of substance use.
Now, the services are experimenting with quick and tangible rewards, such as gift cards, for patients engaging in treatment and abstaining from substance use.
Heidi Hagman, head of welfare promotion, says that while the current drug situation requires a rapid response and urgent action, proactive and preventive substance abuse services are also needed to avoid a repeat of the current situation.
The City plays an established role in substance abuse prevention, but now there is closer cooperation between various divisions. We must spread information on alpha-PVP, addictions, prevention, and substance abuse services.
Schools have stepped up their substance abuse education. Not only students, but also their parents have received new information. City staff have been trained. In addition to student welfare professionals, health education teachers and others have received and will receive more substance abuse education in the spring.
Youth workers have also been trained. The training has been organised in cooperation with substance abuse prevention organisations.
Those working in City services will encounter residents who may need information about substance abuse services.
"We need to know where to refer people when we have concerns about them," says Hagman.
In addition to knowledge, you need the ability to speak up and discuss things. That has been practised, too.
The use of alpha-PVP causes serious hazards. Helsinki's aim is to protect its residents from them.
The City's cooperation with the police is well established, which has been a great help in the current situation. The City organisation wants Helsinki to be safe and comfortable.
Kaisa Komulainen, senior advisor at the Urban Environment Division, says that sanitation and maintenance rounds have been increased. The workers make extra rounds at times such as weekend mornings.
"Sörnäisten Kurvi, Itäkeskus Metro Station, Kontula centre, and Sitratori square in Kannelmäki are under special surveillance."
Helsinki has also improved lighting in different parts of the city.
A new pilot project is the local neighbourhood caretaker (aluetalkkari) in Franzénin puistikko, Torkkelinmäki. The idea is that the caretaker will be present regularly to look after the daycare centre yard and the adjacent park.
There will also be more placemaking pilot projects. The idea behind these rapid pilots in public urban space is to strengthen and develop local culture and community together with residents. At the same time, this creates a welcoming urban space.
As an example, Komulainen explains how a community project based on lighting is being built around Stoa in Itäkeskus at the end of December. It will be in place until the end of February 2026.
For Sitratori square, Kannelmäki, a temporary project is planned for the summer season of 2026, which will increase the leisure spaces and greenery in the area.
When residents feel comfortable in their neighbourhoods and make them their own, there is less room for disruptive behaviour.
The City management receives a monthly report on the progress and implementation of ongoing and planned rapid response actions. The City's new substance abuse strategy is also under preparation.
"Overall, the measures are progressing well. In some areas, we still have to consider the details and costs of some of the measures," says Hagman. She is responsible for coordinating the rapid response measures.
Things like starting up new services and arranging premises cannot be done in a snap. Among other measures, a new Symppis point is planned for the city, and more functional facilities are being sought for the Sörkan Symppis point.
The work that started in the autumn will continue in the spring. Pulkkinen, Komulainen and Hagman stress that everyone, from the City organisation to the police and organisations, has a strong will to intervene in the drug situation.
The impact is not immediately visible. After all, one important objective is to prevent problems in the future.
Text: Kirsi Riipinen
