Netherlands Faces Dangerous Criminal Shortage
May 28th, 2009 by Russ
Today’s object lesson on the consequences of having a rational national drug policy comes to you from the Netherlands.
The Dutch, well known for their allowance of casual drug use and incredibly low resulting addiction rate, have found that they no longer have enough criminals to keep their prisons at capacity.
The Dutch have announced a closing of eight prisons as well as a new initiative to import Belgian criminals to fill cell vacancies.
One wonders what domestic drug warriors will have to say about the Netherlands plummeting crime rate. This situation does seem to utterly eviscerate any arguments that drug use increases violence or criminal activity.
On the other hand, this news will almost certainly scare the bejesus out of the U.S. Prison Guard Labor Force, who will undoubtedly double their efforts to stifle any drug policy reform. After all, when your job is on the line, it’s hardly the time to think about gedoogbeleid.
411 on Dutch Drug Tourism
February 9th, 2009 by PerryFresh from DrugWarRant.com, is an interesting look at the drug tourism industry in the Netherlands.
In response to several media reports last year which talked about the potential closure of Amsterdam’s pot shops, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union interviewed several Dutch mayors to take an earnest look at the situation.
There’s a lot of easy conclusions to draw, but it’s difficult after watching the 10-minute drug tourism documentary, to not see the drug war as a self-perpetuating cycle — linking marijuana to illegal activity because it is a contraband largely sold and distributed by organized crime.
An effort to eliminate the criminal element led to several mayors calling for the government to create a controlled system of distribution — however, it also led two mayors, (one interviewed in the video,) to close down coffee shops which sold marijuana altogether.
Dutch Locals Happy Unhappy
December 2nd, 2008 by Perry
Responding to complaints of a perceived growing drug problem in the area, Michel Marijnen, mayor of Roosendaal, recently tried to close his city’s four marijuana coffee shops.
The southern Dutch border city sees thousands of tourists a week from neighboring European countries, many of whom come for the express purpose of elicit drug use. Officials have said its starting to push local laws to a breaking point, where reform has to be considered.
The London Times online edition reports:
Marijnen is to address a summit for dozens of mayors from towns across the Netherlands today on how to tackle the problems surrounding coffee shops.
Some of the proposed changes are limiting purchase amounts in stores and other regulatory measures, but business owners and customers are worried it could be the beginning of the end and that in the end the regulations will only make the problem worse.
If they cut back to 2 grammes, then people will come back every day, while with 5 grammes they come every week. If they come back every day it will be a big problem for the town.
Holland Cracking Down on Cannabis
November 24th, 2008 by AlexBlaming drug dealers for driving illegal activity, local Dutch government officials are trying to curb marijuana usage by closing some shops and passing legislature restricting where they can be built.
This is a more focused report on the potential shift in marijuana laws, where late last week we covered a large scale change that affects Amsterdam and beyond.
The Reuters report cites security issues, organized crime and bad influences on town youth as reasons for the coffee shop closage. It will be interesting to see whether or not the legislation significantly impacts its tourism industry, much of which is driven by the city of Amsterdam and its illicit lures.
As the video shows, people have opinions both pro and con for the changes, but only time will tell if the attempt to improve local society backfires by driving the drug trade back underground.
The Royale with Cheese, Other Dutch Differences
September 22nd, 2008 by Perry
As someone who spends about an hour a day dreaming about a trip to Amsterdam (yes, it’s time consuming,) this 10 Things to Know About the Dutch is pretty interesting. It talks about some of their crazy eating habits and dislike of Germans. Hey, maybe I’m part Dutch? Maybe!
Amsterdam Coffee Shops in Danger
November 9th, 2006 by Alex
The most common mental image created when the word Amsterdam is mentioned relates to Red Light District mayhem and puffing on the most kind of all buds. While you can still do both of the above, it’s not quite as free spiritied and happy-go-lucky as one is lead to believe.
In the Netherlands, Christian conservatives have taken a government majority. Once in power, they decided the looseness that the Dutch were known for was going to be eradicated. Beginning in 2004, signs began to show that things were changing. The government did this by making new coffee shop licenses almost impossible to procure and when a shop closed, they wouldn’t renew any licenses involved with the establishment.
Coffee shop numbers in the Netherlands have gone from 1,500 nationwide to around 737 currently. At the rate coffee shops are disappearing (over 380 a year), it’ll take under 3 years to completely wipe these businesses off Dutch land. Ferry Hansen, owner of Get A Life coffee shop, had this to say:
You have to think three times about everything you do. It’s getting worse every year. The government is trying to control more and more. If you follow the law, they can’t say anything, but in the long run, they’ll probably get what they want.
Just when you think things are improving at home, there’s a set-back abroad. Hopefully, the Netherlands will get the exact same liberal swing that happened to America during it’s mid-term elections.
[via AlterNet]
