Five million euro boost for addiction clinic

With start-up funding of five million euros, the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation, based in Waiblingen, is supporting the realization of an important project in addiction care. The Baden Württemberg State Association for Prevention and Rehabilitation - bwlv for short - will build one of the most modern specialist clinics for the treatment of young drug addicts in cooperation with and on the grounds of the Psychiatric Center Nordbaden (PZN).

The patient groups to be treated there include those affected by the double burden of addiction and psychosis, internet-related disorders or substitution-supported addiction rehabilitation. Oliver Kaiser, Managing Director of bwlv gGmbH, emphasizes: "Addiction is a life-threatening disease that must be prevented from becoming chronic at all costs. We are overjoyed that we are able to build the project thanks to the support of the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation and that we will be able to offer young people in particular a real chance to get out of addiction once the clinic is completed."

The Chairman of the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation, Robert Mayr, explains the decision to provide funding: "We have examined the content and the economic plans or had them examined by experts. We are convinced by the concept. The financing of ongoing operations is secured. Rising interest rates were the only hurdle for the construction. With our support, the bwlv will also overcome this hurdle."

Uta-Micaela Dürig, member of the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation's Board of Trustees and Head of Social Policy at the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband Baden-Württemberg, to which the bwlv belongs, says: "We are very grateful to the Board of the Eva Mayr-Stihl Foundation for their generous and far-sighted decision. Without the donation, the project could not have been realized, even though the numerous forms of addiction are a growing social problem."

Once the specialist clinic is completed at the beginning of 2026, up to 100 affected people can be treated there. The connection to the PZN will result in economic and, above all, content-related synergies, as the rehabilitation clinic's services will complement those of the PZN. In particular, the proximity between the detoxification wards of the PZN and the specialist clinic, where the subsequent treatment and rehabilitation will take place, offers good conditions for those affected.

Addictive disorders in numerous facets - in addition to synthetic drugs, the increasing digital addiction of young people in particular - are one of the major social problems of the present and future. Dürig appeals to the state government: "In view of the upcoming legalization of cannabis, funding for addiction counseling centers must be increased so that urgently needed prevention measures - especially in schools - and counseling for affected people can be carried out nationwide. "One euro in addiction counseling helps to avoid 17 euros in follow-up costs."