Narcotic City explored the discourses, imaginaries, practices, and consequences of public drug use from the 1970s until the present with a focus on American and European cities. Across three evening roundtables, we addressed how cultures of drug consumption are interwoven into public spaces, everyday lives, and public memories of cities, bringing together expert activists, scholars, and workers on public health, narcotic cultures, and archival politics from the US, Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

During the evening events, 1014 presented part of the Narcotic City Archive – the first interactive archive to collect and preserve the material and immaterial heritage of narcotic use and governance in the 20th and 21st centuries. Since its launch in 2021, this innovative resource has fostered knowledge, visibility, and engagement between researchers, activists, users, and a wider public. More information.

The Narcotic City Event Series was organized by the international research project “Governing the Narcotic City” ( www.narcotic.city) together with 1014 and KWI - Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities, Essen and with generous support from The Humanities in the European Research Area (HERA) program.