“Not a Drug Hotspot”

Speed hotspot: “Public urinators” are to blame

Guntramsdorf voluntarily participates in the drug monitoring program of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Innsbruck—the only municipality in the districts of Baden and Mödling to do so.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Groh Klemens, ZVG Marktgemeinde Guntramsdorf)

There is a lot of commotion in Guntramsdorf. The highest levels of speed residues in Austria have been measured in the wastewater. However, the market town just outside Vienna points out that the town does not have a drug problem. The “culprits” are being sought elsewhere.

Ever since the onset of the pandemic, Guntramsdorf in the Mödling district has voluntarily participated in the drug monitoring program run by the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Innsbruck, which scrutinizes the wastewater from 18 Austrian treatment plants. As reported, the wastewater from the municipality in the Mödling district has yielded the highest levels of amphetamine (speed) in the country.

“During the pandemic, these tests helped us a lot because they allowed us to observe when the next wave was coming,” explains Alexander Handschuh, press spokesperson for the town hall. However, there is absolutely no evidence that drug use has increased in the town, which has a population of just under 10,000.

Guntramsdorf is the only municipality in the districts of Baden and Mödling to voluntarily participate in the drug monitoring program of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Innsbruck.(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Groh Klemens, ZVG Marktgemeinde Guntramsdorf)

Including restroom breaks by over 100,000 travelers per day
Handschuh explains that the local wastewater treatment plant also serves a district of Traiskirchen, as well as the vintage car rest stop on the A2. “ASFINAG records over 100,000 vehicles passing through there daily, primarily truck drivers,” Handschuh explains. And almost everyone who stops there also uses the restrooms.

The senior care facility could also contribute to the high figures due to its medication consumption.

“We have a functioning network with our schools, the police, and youth services, but no one has reported an increase in drug use to us,” Handschuh emphasizes.