A faint white light filters through the clouds in the fjord, dawn breaks in the north. Festive pennants wave from a ferry departing today for the North Sea. Shade less passers-by circle the neoclassical columned structure of the Stock Exchange building as they wait for the ever-punctual tram.

Oslo, Norway's immensely oil-rich capital, dawns differently for another group of people who lie unmoved by this ritual, already part of a brutal and cruel landscape. Their thin bodies and faces dilapidated by a long lethargy mingle anxiously with the more abstract imagery of Edvard Munch.

Oslo is the European city with the highest percentage of overdose deaths. In 2020, 324 people died. A gram of heroin can easily be found on the streets of Oslo for 800 Norwegian kroner (70 euros) and it is not uncommon to be offered several times if you walk around the city center.

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