The Meloni government hates cities. This is evident from the latest budget law, but also from the national Conference on Addiction that ended on Saturday, where the perspective of local authorities was completely ignored. This happened despite the Elide Network (a network of Italian cities focused on harm reduction) having officially asked Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano to be allowed to contribute. 

But this is how it is: urban areas only interest the right as backdrops for scenes of fear (of foreigners, of deviants, of Roma people) to be stoked via television, or as showcases for luxury and extractive tourism. The potential of cities to anchor a socially focused and integrated mode of managing the issue of substance use is not just ignored; it is openly opposed. One need only recall the media lynching the Bologna administration received for distributing crack pipes.

This practice –........

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