Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

Call for end to distinction between soft and hard drugs
14 November 2008

The Dutch government’s distinction between hard and soft drugs is “ridiculous” and has proved ineffective in keeping criminal organisations away from the production and distribution of cannabis, according to a report published on Friday by two law professors.

Cyrille Fijnaut of Tilburg University and Brice de Ruyverof Ghent University in Belgium have called for the distinction between soft and hard drugs, which is at the core of drugs policy in the Netherlands, to be scrapped.

The Dutch authorities have turned an official blind eye to the possession of up to five grams of marijuana since the 1970s, believing that tolerance of soft drugs would keep people away from potentially more harmful hard drugs such as cocaine, heroin and amphetamines.

Friday’s report by Fijnaut and De Ruyver was commissioned to look into drug-related problems in one of the border areas where cannabis is openly available in so-called coffee shops.

The report concludes that fewer coffee shops near the border could limit these problems. But it also points out that drug tourists who currently come to the Netherlands could still buy marijuana illegally in their own countries.

The authors of the report call for closer collaboration between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and the formation of a special narcotics bureau in the area.

The policy of tolerating soft drugs is coming under increasing pressure within the Netherlands itself. The government announced this week that the sale of fresh hallucinogenic or “magic” mushrooms will be banned from next month.

And two towns on the border with Belgium want to close down all the coffee shops within their boundaries because of the nuisance caused by drugs tourists. Some politicians have even called for a complete ban on all coffee shops.

Source

(What the hell do 2 law professors know about the difference between hard and soft drugs?!? How stupid is that!? Have another drink, law professors! )

Have you ever heard this from one toker to another ;

........."Awww shit man(hic/belch/fart)....bass the pong for yer 2 zonked ter no wotcha doin' (hic/belch/fart) or I'll beat the livin' shite outa yer....... Oooo you lookin at ?"







<- stoner sinking slowly into the sunset with a fit of the giggles

Puffin13 wrote:The Dutch government’s distinction between hard and soft drugs is “ridiculous” and has proved ineffective in keeping criminal organisations away from the production and distribution of cannabis, according to a report published on Friday by two law professors.

The Dutch authorities have turned an official blind eye to the possession of up to five grams of marijuana since the 1970s, believing that tolerance of soft drugs would keep people away from potentially more harmful hard drugs such as cocaine, heroin and amphetamines.

Bit of a contradiction, non? The idea is to keep people away from the harder stuff - what does that have to do with keeping criminal organisations away from the production and distribution of cannabis. Two completely seperate issues imo.

Neldo wrote:Bit of a contradiction, non?

I thought that was the job of guvmints mon amis, to be contradictatory, others called it 'Divide and Conquer'

Bhang Buddie wrote:

Neldo wrote:Bit of a contradiction, non?

I thought that was the job of guvmints mon amis, to be contradictatory, others called it 'Divide and Conquer'

Mais oui, mon frère.

Aaaahhh bon (or is that 'bong' )

Très Bien.

Right, I'm all out of high school french...

Neldo wrote:Très Bien

Ah bong thank fk fer that, me too

The report concludes that fewer coffee shops near the border could limit these problems. But it also points out that drug tourists who currently come to the Netherlands could still buy marijuana illegally in their own countries

Ha ha no fucking shit!? Thats why we go to the Netherlands to do it legally instead of funding organized crime in our own countries, and getting a quality control in the Netherlands

Nicely spotted NYCBud

I do agree with you NYCD
The problem is that some criminal organisation are on these border towns
also because a lot of drug tourists dont think the same as us. they wanna travel for money and then they try to get more even if it comes from the streets, they dont care.
Where the dutch government policy of soft and hard drugs failed, is in fact just in the black market. They thought there would be no more black market for cannabis (no danger so on...) so they would be able to fight the hard drugs market better. But unfortunately, the demand is still superior to the offer and so they still have criminal behaviours with cannabis.
And again the good people will pay for the mistakes of the bad ones.

Or it may not be to netherlands to solve this problem : I do believe other countries should start to open cannabis cafe or shops even just that would be a start and certainly a good thing as the open market will grow up to respond to the high demand.
Legalize it once for all.

kantharr wrote:..........I do believe other countries should start to open cannabis cafe or shops even just that would be a start and certainly a good thing as the open market will grow up to respond to the high demand.
Legalize it once for all.

Which is what 99.9% of peeps on this and ALL the other Cannabis forums have been saying since guvmints 'thought' (?) thay new best. We've had the Smokey Bears in the UK (and many other orgs), StonedHenge Festival etc., etc., for many years now - look at it this way, if the guvmint were to legalise it wouldn't they be bowing to the will of the People ?
........and we can't have that now, can we

Exactly.

Why should a government bow to the will of the people?

I mean, the fact that it's sole reason for existence is that these people have been elected, as the voice of the people to do the will of the people, has absolutely no relevance.

The fact that these people that have been elected are in clear breach of the basic rules of government, leads me to believe that someone should have the balls to stand up and take the government to court for dereliction of duty, for failing to do what the people want.

Governments get in with their agenda. They forget they are supposed to get in with our agenda. They are supposed to represent the people, not their parties, and give what the people want. Hold a referendum now and ask the following question.

Should Marijuana be legalised in this country. Then take the result of the vote. That's the people speaking.

and now for something completely different......

come to think of it.... when was the last referendum for ANYTHING in this country??????

Exactly! ages ago, when they DID care about what the ppl wanted, its a shame that the goverments of most countries now believe that they are immune to the public they reperesent!

it all seems abit funny to me now! they say jump and we all ask how high!....something wrong there!!!

OK plenty of nice things there

But just a simple question

When you want something, dont you usually just ask for it? or are you really waiting it is proposed.

I personnally think to become an "activist" for legalisation in my country.
Just consumers are certainly not enough : we also need to sensibilize the rest of the population to the goods of cannabis and what it can bring to them even if they are not users : jobs, a new source of revenue for the general economy, bla bla bla. WE all know that but the majority of the society does not.
I think it is our job as responsible users and aware of it to explain others why cannabis would be good for them as well without becoming users.