Members-only cannabis club won't pass the test in Europe
Posted: Fri 3rd Jul 2009 01:41 pm
Members-only cannabis club won't pass the test in Europe
The committee on drugs policy recommends making the coffee shops members-only clubs, and experimenting with legal cannabis production. Neither will pass the European test.
We can't go on like this, but where do we go from here? That has been the miserable state of the Dutch policy on drugs for years. Supporters of prohibition and tolerance have each other pinned down.
They know that the production of cannabis invites crime, that the Netherlands has become a large-scale exporter of cannabis, that cannabis consumption leads to children dropping out of school, and aggravates social problems, and home-growing runs down neighbourhoods.
The once carefree subculture of soft drugs has become a tough business. "It's a mess", Labour member of parliament Lea Bouwmeester said this week as she introduced a last-minute proposal to legalise the production of cannabis in an attempt to save the coffee shops.
True to custom, the government set up a commission in the hope of clearing the trenches of the drugs debate. That commission has now given its recommendations. The message is clear: the current tolerance policy has become untenable. But the commission doesn't have a miracle solution either. How could it when we live in a borderless corner of the European Union? The commission too is balancing between the need to protect small-scale private users, and the need to fight corruption of the system.
The committee rightly puts soft drugs in a larger context by including alcohol in the debate and recommending a minimum age of 18 for both substances. This is in line with new insights about the effect of both THC and alcohol on the undeveloped brain. In short, the longer consumption of THC or alcohol are put off, the better.
Alcohol and drugs will come to play a role in the lives of many, but that consumption should be allowed to begin at a young age is an indefensible position. A change in mentality is needed among parents, schools, civil society and small businesses.
As far as the coffee shops are concerned, the committee is recommending to lock the door except for registered members. These "cannabis clubs" would cater only to local users. But it is hard to see how people from other EU countries could be legally banned from becoming members. Such a measure would have a discouraging effect for as long as it takes the EU court in Luxembourg to declare it illegal.
The committee is also recommending experimenting with legalised production of cannabis in order to decriminalise the supply chain of the coffee shops. It is not a new idea. But UN and EU rules only allow cannabis production for scientific or medicinal use, or in small quantities for personal use.
The Dutch government ordered a study in 2005 to look into the legal possibility of allowing small-scale cannabis production for the coffee shops. The answer was crystal clear: EU law doesn't allow for it. Solutions like these require a political consensus at the European level. It requires an answer to the question whether cannabis use for adults is socially acceptable. The questions is too large for the Netherlands to be able to answer it on its own.
http://www.nrc.nl/international/opinion ... _in_Europe
The committee on drugs policy recommends making the coffee shops members-only clubs, and experimenting with legal cannabis production. Neither will pass the European test.
We can't go on like this, but where do we go from here? That has been the miserable state of the Dutch policy on drugs for years. Supporters of prohibition and tolerance have each other pinned down.
They know that the production of cannabis invites crime, that the Netherlands has become a large-scale exporter of cannabis, that cannabis consumption leads to children dropping out of school, and aggravates social problems, and home-growing runs down neighbourhoods.
The once carefree subculture of soft drugs has become a tough business. "It's a mess", Labour member of parliament Lea Bouwmeester said this week as she introduced a last-minute proposal to legalise the production of cannabis in an attempt to save the coffee shops.
True to custom, the government set up a commission in the hope of clearing the trenches of the drugs debate. That commission has now given its recommendations. The message is clear: the current tolerance policy has become untenable. But the commission doesn't have a miracle solution either. How could it when we live in a borderless corner of the European Union? The commission too is balancing between the need to protect small-scale private users, and the need to fight corruption of the system.
The committee rightly puts soft drugs in a larger context by including alcohol in the debate and recommending a minimum age of 18 for both substances. This is in line with new insights about the effect of both THC and alcohol on the undeveloped brain. In short, the longer consumption of THC or alcohol are put off, the better.
Alcohol and drugs will come to play a role in the lives of many, but that consumption should be allowed to begin at a young age is an indefensible position. A change in mentality is needed among parents, schools, civil society and small businesses.
As far as the coffee shops are concerned, the committee is recommending to lock the door except for registered members. These "cannabis clubs" would cater only to local users. But it is hard to see how people from other EU countries could be legally banned from becoming members. Such a measure would have a discouraging effect for as long as it takes the EU court in Luxembourg to declare it illegal.
The committee is also recommending experimenting with legalised production of cannabis in order to decriminalise the supply chain of the coffee shops. It is not a new idea. But UN and EU rules only allow cannabis production for scientific or medicinal use, or in small quantities for personal use.
The Dutch government ordered a study in 2005 to look into the legal possibility of allowing small-scale cannabis production for the coffee shops. The answer was crystal clear: EU law doesn't allow for it. Solutions like these require a political consensus at the European level. It requires an answer to the question whether cannabis use for adults is socially acceptable. The questions is too large for the Netherlands to be able to answer it on its own.
http://www.nrc.nl/international/opinion ... _in_Europe
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