Dutch cities wants cannabis cultivation decriminalised
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treetop
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Dutch cities wants cannabis cultivation decriminalised
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Last edited by treetop on Tue 11th Oct 2016 10:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
How much did you produce?
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notsofasteddie
- Posts: 1028
- Joined: Fri 1st Jul 2011 07:05 pm
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Re: Dutch cities wants cannabis cultivation decriminalised
35 mayors call for regulated marijuana production; minister says no
Friday 31 January 2014
Police dismantle a plantation in Amsterdam. Photo: DutchNews.nl
In total, 35 local authorities have signed a manifesto calling on the government to sanction official experiments with legal marijuana production.
The council leaders argue regulated growing would end the grey area between semi-legalised sales in cannabis cafes and illegal supply by criminal gangs.
The signatories include the mayors of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Utrecht and Groningen. 'The current situation is unsustainable,' said Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb.
Prohibition
Eindhoven mayor Rob van Gijzel said: 'Prohibition in the US led to major criminality which is still there today.' Regulation would remove criminals from the equation, Van Gijzel said. But justice minister Ivo Opstelten has again said he will not agree to any relaxation of the law. 'Even if there are 10 manifestos, the answer will remain a convinced no,' the minister told Nos television. Local councils will have to learn to live with his decision not to sanction regulated production. 'It is up to me, not them,' the minister said.
International
The public prosecution department and police fully support this position, Opstelten said, and stressed international treaties do not allow marijuana to be grown. Some 80% of Dutch production is for export and regulated production would not be good for the Netherlands reputation abroad, he said. A poll for television show EenVandaag two weeks ago showed six out of 10 Dutch people think it would be a good idea if Dutch councils organised marijuana production themselves. In particular, two-thirds of those who support Opstelten's own party, the right-wing VVD Liberals, back government-controlled production. Column: help the economy, legalise marijuana - See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2 ... xRAtG.dpuf
dutchnews
Friday 31 January 2014
Police dismantle a plantation in Amsterdam. Photo: DutchNews.nl
In total, 35 local authorities have signed a manifesto calling on the government to sanction official experiments with legal marijuana production.
The council leaders argue regulated growing would end the grey area between semi-legalised sales in cannabis cafes and illegal supply by criminal gangs.
The signatories include the mayors of Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Eindhoven, Utrecht and Groningen. 'The current situation is unsustainable,' said Rotterdam mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb.
Prohibition
Eindhoven mayor Rob van Gijzel said: 'Prohibition in the US led to major criminality which is still there today.' Regulation would remove criminals from the equation, Van Gijzel said. But justice minister Ivo Opstelten has again said he will not agree to any relaxation of the law. 'Even if there are 10 manifestos, the answer will remain a convinced no,' the minister told Nos television. Local councils will have to learn to live with his decision not to sanction regulated production. 'It is up to me, not them,' the minister said.
International
The public prosecution department and police fully support this position, Opstelten said, and stressed international treaties do not allow marijuana to be grown. Some 80% of Dutch production is for export and regulated production would not be good for the Netherlands reputation abroad, he said. A poll for television show EenVandaag two weeks ago showed six out of 10 Dutch people think it would be a good idea if Dutch councils organised marijuana production themselves. In particular, two-thirds of those who support Opstelten's own party, the right-wing VVD Liberals, back government-controlled production. Column: help the economy, legalise marijuana - See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2 ... xRAtG.dpuf
dutchnews
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notsofasteddie
- Posts: 1028
- Joined: Fri 1st Jul 2011 07:05 pm
- Location: S.E. USA
Re: Dutch cities wants cannabis cultivation decriminalised
Help the economy: legalise marijuana
Wednesday 29 January 2014
photo Arend van den Berg
The Netherlands is no longer at the forefront of cannabis legislation. It’s time to change tack, writes Arend van den Berg.
The mayor of Heerlen announced the other day that he wants his city to have its own cannabis plantation. Are we going back to the olden days when the Netherlands was a drugs baron in the Dutch East Indies and owned the monopoly on the production and sale of opium?
A factory in Batavia employing a thousand workers made raw opium fit for consumption. The director of the factory was directly answerable to the finance ministry. The Japanese invasion of 1942 put an end to this state monopoly.
Regulation
The government took an extremely pragmatic view of things in those days. Since opium consumption was not going to stop, it chose regulation over a total ban. That took care of the illegal circuit and the criminal element at the same time.
The time seems to have come to reinstate this way of thinking worldwide, starting with soft drugs (opium is a hard drug according to the current classification). The battle to stop the drugs trade is a hopeless one. The health risks of soft drugs are roughly on a par with alcohol and cigarettes.
In December last year, Uruguay became the first country in the world to decriminalise the production, sale and possession of marijuana.
Even in the United States the tide is turning. Colorado has had legal marijuana shops since January 1 this year. It is no longer considered an illegal substance in Washington either. Twenty American states are allowing the drug to be used for medicinal purposes, some generously so.
Bizarre system
The Netherlands no longer leads the way. What we have is a bizarre system of banning and allowing cannabis at the same time. The sale of cannabis for personal use at the designated coffee shops is legal but producing it is punishable by law.
This is causing all sorts of problems. Coffee shops have to bend over backwards to safeguard their supply line, giving criminals a chance to get involved and endangering quality.
The ministry of justice is fighting a losing battle. In Heerlen alone 130 illegal marihuana plantations were discovered, often in private houses.
Legalisation saves money
The legalisation of (soft) drugs could be extremely profitable. In 2012 the KRO programme Reporter discovered that the finance ministry had already calculated that the taxes on drugs would come to as much as a quarter of a billion euros.
A further €150m could be saved on drug-related police work and prosecutions, according to an estimate by economist Martijn Boermans three years ago. He thought the total amount, taking into account taxes, tax on profits and money spent by foreign tourists, could even end up between €650m and a whopping €1.05bn
Legalisation would be an extra incentive for a business in which, currently at least, €500m goes untaxed. Growers can introduce a profitable new plant which will sprout countless interesting niche products.
The 700 or so coffeeshops will have a ready and risk-free supply. They can charge VAT and use part of the money to invest in the business. Their clients (among whom some one million Dutch people) will get their money’s worth: reliable quality products for, possibly, less money. The lower purchase price would compensate for the taxes and VAT.
If the government thinks prices are too low it can simply decide to up taxes, as it does with cigarettes. Consumption will go down. That lesson was learned in the Dutch East Indies a century ago.
Opstelten says no
Justice minister Ivo Opstelten won’t have any of it. In a letter to parliament written as recently as the end of December he said that international treaties would stand in the way and that European law would make it impossible to put a tax on cannabis.
In the US a similar discussion is taking place: according to federal law marihuana is still an illegal substance. Uruguay, at least, decided to go its own way.
Maybe Opstelten should smoke a joint with finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem. He knows his way around Europe. And as treasurer he has the most to gain by a legal status for a hidden economic sector.
There is no need to lobby for support. GroenLinks, SP, D66 and the animal rights party are all in favour of the legalisation of soft drugs.
Arend van den Berg is publisher and editor-in-chief of Z24.nl. This article was first published on Z24.nl.
- See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/columns/2014/01 ... kU273.dpuf
dutchnews
Wednesday 29 January 2014
photo Arend van den Berg
The Netherlands is no longer at the forefront of cannabis legislation. It’s time to change tack, writes Arend van den Berg.
The mayor of Heerlen announced the other day that he wants his city to have its own cannabis plantation. Are we going back to the olden days when the Netherlands was a drugs baron in the Dutch East Indies and owned the monopoly on the production and sale of opium?
A factory in Batavia employing a thousand workers made raw opium fit for consumption. The director of the factory was directly answerable to the finance ministry. The Japanese invasion of 1942 put an end to this state monopoly.
Regulation
The government took an extremely pragmatic view of things in those days. Since opium consumption was not going to stop, it chose regulation over a total ban. That took care of the illegal circuit and the criminal element at the same time.
The time seems to have come to reinstate this way of thinking worldwide, starting with soft drugs (opium is a hard drug according to the current classification). The battle to stop the drugs trade is a hopeless one. The health risks of soft drugs are roughly on a par with alcohol and cigarettes.
In December last year, Uruguay became the first country in the world to decriminalise the production, sale and possession of marijuana.
Even in the United States the tide is turning. Colorado has had legal marijuana shops since January 1 this year. It is no longer considered an illegal substance in Washington either. Twenty American states are allowing the drug to be used for medicinal purposes, some generously so.
Bizarre system
The Netherlands no longer leads the way. What we have is a bizarre system of banning and allowing cannabis at the same time. The sale of cannabis for personal use at the designated coffee shops is legal but producing it is punishable by law.
This is causing all sorts of problems. Coffee shops have to bend over backwards to safeguard their supply line, giving criminals a chance to get involved and endangering quality.
The ministry of justice is fighting a losing battle. In Heerlen alone 130 illegal marihuana plantations were discovered, often in private houses.
Legalisation saves money
The legalisation of (soft) drugs could be extremely profitable. In 2012 the KRO programme Reporter discovered that the finance ministry had already calculated that the taxes on drugs would come to as much as a quarter of a billion euros.
A further €150m could be saved on drug-related police work and prosecutions, according to an estimate by economist Martijn Boermans three years ago. He thought the total amount, taking into account taxes, tax on profits and money spent by foreign tourists, could even end up between €650m and a whopping €1.05bn
Legalisation would be an extra incentive for a business in which, currently at least, €500m goes untaxed. Growers can introduce a profitable new plant which will sprout countless interesting niche products.
The 700 or so coffeeshops will have a ready and risk-free supply. They can charge VAT and use part of the money to invest in the business. Their clients (among whom some one million Dutch people) will get their money’s worth: reliable quality products for, possibly, less money. The lower purchase price would compensate for the taxes and VAT.
If the government thinks prices are too low it can simply decide to up taxes, as it does with cigarettes. Consumption will go down. That lesson was learned in the Dutch East Indies a century ago.
Opstelten says no
Justice minister Ivo Opstelten won’t have any of it. In a letter to parliament written as recently as the end of December he said that international treaties would stand in the way and that European law would make it impossible to put a tax on cannabis.
In the US a similar discussion is taking place: according to federal law marihuana is still an illegal substance. Uruguay, at least, decided to go its own way.
Maybe Opstelten should smoke a joint with finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem. He knows his way around Europe. And as treasurer he has the most to gain by a legal status for a hidden economic sector.
There is no need to lobby for support. GroenLinks, SP, D66 and the animal rights party are all in favour of the legalisation of soft drugs.
Arend van den Berg is publisher and editor-in-chief of Z24.nl. This article was first published on Z24.nl.
- See more at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/columns/2014/01 ... kU273.dpuf
dutchnews