"The German National Strategy on Drug and Addiction Policy focuses on treatment and counselling alongside prevention and early intervention. In Germany, the responsibility for the implementation of drug treatment lies with the federal Länder and the municipalities. Available treatments range from low-threshold contacts and counselling services to intensive treatment and therapy in specialised inpatient facilities. Long-term treatment options exist in the form of opioid substitution treatment (OST), long-term rehabilitative treatment and social reintegration options.

"Clean needles and syringes and other drug use paraphernalia are provided through a network of low-threshold services, outpatient counselling facilities and vending machines. Data on the number of syringes distributed are not available for the country as a whole, but data from local syringe monitoring are available in the Land North Rhine-Westphalia and some larger cities, including Frankfurt and Berlin.

"Studies reporting estimates of high-risk drug use can help to identify the extent of the more entrenched drug use problems, while data on first-time entrants to specialised drug treatment centres, when considered alongside other indicators, can inform an understanding of the nature of and trends in high-risk drug use.

"In Germany, more than a quarter of the adult population have used illicit drugs during their lifetime, while fewer than 1 in 10 have done so in the last 12 months; of these, about half have used illicit drugs in the last 30 days.

"The German Federal Narcotics Act defines schedules of narcotic substances, the framework and procedure for legal trade and prescription of narcotics, criminal and administrative liability, and alternative measures for drug-dependent offenders. Use of drugs is not mentioned as an offence. Unauthorised personal possession and purchase of drugs are criminal offences punishable by up to 5 years in prison. However, the law affords various possibilities other than prosecution when only small quantities of narcotic drugs for personal use are involved.

(Drug Offenders In German Prisons, 2010) "Because the percentage of addicts and consumers of illegal drugs in German penal institutions cannot be clearly quantified, the number of persons incarcerated as a result of violations of the Federal Narcotics Act (Betäubungsmittelgesetz) is frequently used. This estimate is relatively imprecise, however, because first of all it counts people who, although they have violated the law in connection with drugs, may not themselves have consumed any illicit substances, as could be the case, for example, with some dealers.

(Germany's Integrative Approach to Addiction Policy) "The Federal Government continues to follow an integrative approach in its addiction policy. Unlike in other European countries, legal and illegal addictive substances are addressed together. Particular consideration is given, due to their wide popularity, to the legal addictive substances alcohol, tobacco and psychotropic pharmaceuticals when further developing addiction prevention and the assistance system.

Harm Reduction

Problem Drug Use and Its Correlates

(Estimates and Trends in Prevalence and Incidence of Problem Drug Use in Germany, 2011) "Calculations based on figures collected from treatment, police contacts and drug-related deaths lead to an estimated figure of problem heroin users ranging between 63,000 and 185,000 persons (with the estimates of the year 2010 serving as a calculation basis). This corresponds to a quota of 1.2 to 3.4 persons per 1,000 population in the age group of 15 to 64 year olds (Table 4.1).

(Average Drug Prices in Germany, 2010-2011) "As far as the average drug prices (Table 10.7) are concerned, there were hardly any changes of any significance observed from 2010 to 2011.
"At retail level, the prices for cocaine (+-0%), ecstasy (+-0%), hashish (+1%), marijuana (+2%), amphetamine (+5%) and LSD (+9%) either stayed constant or rose slightly. The prices for heroin (+17%), crystal (+17%) and crack (+18%), however, rose on a nationwide to a noticeable degree.