cannabisnews.com: Cabinet Moves To Ban Super-Strong Cannabis 





Cabinet Moves To Ban Super-Strong Cannabis 
Posted by CN Staff on April 09, 2004 at 09:14:19 PT
Breaking News Story 
Source: Expatica.com 
Amsterdam — The Dutch cabinet decided on Thursday to ban the sale of super-strong homegrown cannabis if a commissioned study reveals that the soft drug has become too powerful.Ministers also decided to ask municipal councils to restrict as much as possible the sale of cannabis from coffeeshops near schools and political borders.
But opposition party Labour PvdA said the cabinet plan was "unwise" and that soft drugs should remain controllable. A spokesman said if soft drugs became illegal, authorities would lose supervision of their trade and use.Research by the Trimbos Institute for Addiction indicates that the THC level — the workable agent in cannabis and hash — has increased significantly over the years, meaning that Dutch-grown marijuana, Nederwiet, could now be considered a hard drug.Nederwiet is an extra-strong variant of marijuana. It is grown in professionally-equipped greenhouses and is often referred to as skunk. It is much in demand in Dutch coffeeshops. And in its annual Drugs Monitor report, the institute said last month that the THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol) level in Nederwiet has increased to 15 percent compared with 9 percent in 1999. The increase is due to professional growing techniques.Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner, Interior Minister Johan Remkes and Health Minister Hans Hoogervorst urged the cabinet to conduct further research into THC levels and investigate a possible ban on the sale of strong cannabis.Deputy Prime Minister Gerrit Zalm — who spoke on behalf of Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, who was on a State visit to China this week — said the cabinet's cannabis legislative proposal will be presented to Parliament next week, newspaper De Volkskrant reported.The legislation proposes further research into the health effects of strong cannabis and toughening jail terms for large-scale cannabis cultivation from four to five years.Source: Expatica.com (Amsterdam)Published: April 9, 2004Copyright: 2004 Expatica News Contact: feedback expatica.comWebsite: http://www.expatica.com/Related Articles:Dutch Coffeeshops Face Ban on Strong Cannabis http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18594.shtmlDutch Government to Weigh Cannabis Clamp Down http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread18593.shtmlDutch State Pot Is No Heady Stuff for Supplierhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread17248.shtml 
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Comment #24 posted by rchandar on April 14, 2004 at 21:07:53 PT:
nol's comment
that may be true nol, BUT--you've got to do everything you can to get this bill rejected and to make donner's ideas the "laughing stock" that they obviously are. such a bill purports to do only one thing--END the coffeeshop culture and DESTROY the tolerance policy. How could such a move do anything else, do you think that we stoners are going to accept dirt weed for our travels? I know that people won't! Yes it may take years to get this to the Parliament floor--just like Blunkett's downgrading of cannabis in UK took 2 years, & then had trouble passing--but a sound, EARLY rejection of the idea would be sweet, no doubt about that!Donner is basically playing his strong hand. He knows that CDA and Balkenende have three more years in office, plenty of time to preside over an incredibly nightmarish scenario for the Netherlands. It's an EVIL proposal--something that should, when the facts are presented, shock and anger Dutch citizens. (God knows WE'RE p#$sed off about it, too!)  The Netherlands remains a powerful, powerful voice in favor of drug law reform on the world stage, and Donner is trying to create a horrible domestic situation.  They're not doing all that well on other issues either--immigration/asylum, the economy, terrorism, Iraq--CDA are all boneheads, and too many people by now know it. Now, if this bill EVER passes, all that market not only will go underground, but trafficking of Nederweed and Nederhash will skyrocket. Donner must be a f#$%$king idiot to do this at all! What will Germany, France, Britain, etc, etc, etc ad nauseum say to your government when their city streets become flooded with Nederhash and uncontrolled mafias become fixtures in their communities???!  Such a move will only result in this, because the penalties aren't being increased much, so it's not a good "tough on crime" measure to begin with. It's an unresearched and unplanned disaster, courtesy of a couple of evil geniuses.Donner does not have the support of the Dutch people on this one. Plain and simple. And such a move will kill the entire tourist industry, erasing billions of euro of revenue. It must be opposed; who could think of a beautiful country like the Netherlands, long known for their internationalism, without foreigners coming for a visit? And Trimbos' statistics are cooked, there's no doubt about that. Lots of us were in Holland in the 90s and the weed was definitely very strong. I don't know what the need for this bill really is!!! In the US, they're outraged that BC bud is 18, 19% THC, and the Netherlands is worried about 15%???? They may try to make it look like Nederweed and Nederhash is creating a permanent class of addicts. But that's just false--too many of us come there, return home, go without weed for months, even years, and are psychiatrically fine! This is a super-bogus bill, and will result in crime claiming the Netherlands. That disgusts me; they're enjoying the spectacle of this whole thing. Like they're glad that they can just send everybody to hell all of a sudden...Build a strong opposition, lobby and tell the truth to anyone who's got the time to hear it. The statistics, no doubt, will be COOKED. There's just no question about it because their research is GOING to say that Nederweed is harmful. I think independent research should be pursued simply to challenge the authority of this survey. If we go backwards in the Netherlands, it'll go bad elsewhere. Now, PvdA is squarely against it--they're for legalization, outright. It's a matter of persuading the other parties to stand and fight this insane, counterproductive, and untimely bill. Keep rockin!--rchandar 
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Comment #23 posted by dapoopa on April 14, 2004 at 11:17:23 PT
latest from Nol van Schaik
The latest from Nol van Schaik:http://www.channels.nl/phpbb/viewto...t=5144&start=30Minister Zalm, Finance, in on the coalition, but a VVD man, has stated the following: "We have accepted Donner's proposals, but the main issue in this is the coffeeshops at the borders, and the coffeeshops near schools. 
The THC percentage will be researched, but nothing will change until it has been proven that cannabis is causing physical and mental harm. It will take years to get all this research done, so there will not be a ban on high THC Nederweed in coffeeshops for a long time, if it ever will be." This means the measurements will not at all apply on Haarlem, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, the Hague, Utrecht, etc. Only our colleagues in the border areas have to take care. Coffeeshops had to move 200 meters from schools in 1997 already, they did, the few that did not, better do it now! That's all for now, come on over, roll up strong THC joints and enjoy!
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Comment #22 posted by cloud7 on April 11, 2004 at 06:40:09 PT
"As we all know, this can not be proven"
Just remember, the war on cannabis has nothing to do with facts or science and if the Netherlands are heading towards U.S. style policies, I guarantee there will be an "alarming" study about the dangers of any cannabis with over 9% THC. I tend to agree with mamawillie that it is about the money and it probably wont be banned, but the govt has a large source of income the second they ban "strong" cannabis and can make seizures, hand out fines, and fund the drug treatment/prison complex.
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Comment #21 posted by Ferre on April 11, 2004 at 02:26:11 PT
Not in touch with reality
This is a new excample of the same old mr Donner (minister of justic) in the Netherlands who also made the news claiming he wanted to restrict coffeeeshops to sell to foreigners. 
This law "proposal" is worthless and will never make it through parliament and I tell you why.The Dutch government desided on thursday that they will indeed change the law IF RESEARCH PROVES stronger THC levels are indeed a hazard for public health. 
As we all know, this can not be proven so don't worry about that law proposal, its only purpose is to please the U.S. government.rev. Ferre van Beveren,THC Ministry Amsterdam
THC Ministry Amsterdam
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Comment #20 posted by E_Johnson on April 09, 2004 at 19:40:26 PT
So will vaporizers be outlawed next?
One thing we should wonder about this is -- what will they make of a vaporizer?From one point of view, they want their legal medical users to use vaporizers because they deliver a pure vapor free from tar.But being free from tar means being 98% THC.So what is the point of urging medical users to inhale the pure tar-free product from a vaporizer while admonishing recreational users that they must inhale a vapor that contains a minimum of 90% tar from a joint?If the highly educated adults in government can't understand the illogic here, then the whole world is in deep trouble.The journalists at Expatica don't seem to comprehend that the component in marijuana smoke that is not THC is tar.
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Comment #19 posted by mayan on April 09, 2004 at 18:21:40 PT
Can't Keep a Good Nugg...
I just don't see how they'll be able to keep the good nuggs down.  The way out... 9/11 kin: Answers just raise questions 
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/182022p-157987c.htmlVictim's Mother Reacts to Rice's Testimony:
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/local_story_099171553.html
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Comment #18 posted by E_Johnson on April 09, 2004 at 16:41:30 PT
This is how abuse works on the brain
They're good people they wouldn't be doing stupid things to hurt us and control us unless we somehow really deserved it.Right?That's how an abusive environment eats up the brains of the people trying to survive in it.Either you have to disconnect from the idea that these people actually mean well or you have to bend to their imaginary world and join their fallacy and believe in it.It's a fallacy, and there is no parallel with skiing. How many marijuana smokers have been pulled out of Dutch cannabis cafes lying unconscious on rescue toboggans, for example?I had a whole abusive childhood to unlearn and it took me many years to unravel the lies about myself that I had accepted from those people who were assumed to mean well for me because they were my parents.Becareful about assuming that people who assume a parental role are doing it with good intentions.Sometimes all they want is someone or something to CONTROL.Which is what we present to them. A target for their fury to control the world around them and make it scare them less.
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Comment #17 posted by E_Johnson on April 09, 2004 at 16:35:50 PT
You're giving them too much credit
"I suspect they think people simply smoke as much and as fast as they can until they are too deranged to continue. It probably really happens, especially among the young, the inexperienced, and the psychologically troubled."How many times have you personally seen that happen?If you say "it probably really happens" and you haven't ever seen it happen yourself, then what does that mean?
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Comment #16 posted by CorvallisEric on April 09, 2004 at 16:26:08 PT
Looking for a plausible explanation
I suspect they think people simply smoke as much and as fast as they can until they are too deranged to continue. It probably really happens, especially among the young, the inexperienced, and the psychologically troubled. It might be a good research project to find out if these people are a tiny minority of all cannabis users, and if most users self-titrate well.There's a good model for regulation (or the lack thereof) in skiing, a far more lethal activity. Every year, some fools and crazies (as well as good skiers who made a mistake) get hurt or worse on the difficult slopes. Instead of closing them, we provide universally-recognized and reliable signs, safety rules, training, encourage wearing helmets, etc, and then let people take their own risks.
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Comment #15 posted by E_Johnson on April 09, 2004 at 13:29:27 PT
Is it really that uniform?
Is the quality so uniform from bud to bud that testing and proofing has any value at all?The testing is destructive so you can't pre-test a bud.There's a complete breakdown in quantitative and scientific reasoning here.It's as if apes are serving on the Cabinet and babboons are writing for Expatica.com.
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Comment #14 posted by jared3602 on April 09, 2004 at 13:25:59 PT
Proofs
What they should do is just make a system of Proofs like we have in liquior. (30 Proof 80 proof etc.) They just need to come up with a scale of how much THC in each bracket. Then they can sell different amounts of weight for the different amounts of THC. Right now I think they are only allowed to sell 5 grams to a person. Just make that the middle ground and only sell like 3.5 grams of the really good stuff.
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Comment #13 posted by BGreen on April 09, 2004 at 12:16:52 PT
I wish we could post pictures
I wasn't a traveler until 2001 when I made my first of four trips to the Netherlands.My parents wanted to travel when they retired, but now they're both too sick to go anywhere.Mrs. Green and I aren't going to make that mistake.Haarlem is so awesome. I really wanted to move there so much I was sad to come back to the states, that's how much I loved that town.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #12 posted by Virgil on April 09, 2004 at 12:00:03 PT
BGreen, I have never left the country
I have only been in a dozen states and have only been in the Carolinas since a day trip to Ohio about 5 years ago. I live in Iredell County about 2 miles from the Catawba River that separates Iredell and Catawba Counties. When I leave the private road that has no stop sign, I can go right or left. The road to the left goes to Statesville and I have been down it thousands of times and the road to the right goes across the river into the heart of furniture country in Catawba County.I used to make furniture in a shop. Yesterday, I made the most beautiful of pipes. I chanced across a small quantity of Miracleplant and am so sore from a couple of days of hard work that today I cannot move.I had a little block of cherry that I put in the vice and hit with a hammer until it was about an inch and half wide and took the rough edges off with a mounted belt sander. I have had all this cherry for a dozen years and this scrap had seen enough sunlight to have a beautiful cherry patina. So as I was taking medicine for my aching body, this pipe looked like head of a snake and really like the slighty poisonous copperhead that is found around here. It has the smallest of burls that streaks one side of it with dullest red and when combined with a sungiven cherry and a lighter color where it was sanded. The inch and a half was sanded on the ends to taper to about three- forths of an inch. It looks like the head a copperhead. Now I say this because of the paraphanalia laws. All these little pieces of cherry will one day be a pipe or derivative. Once you get a piece of wood and drill a half-inch hole down and something less than or equal to a quarter of an inch.I was thinking of the idea of drilling the top hole and not finishing the longer hole from the end to the half- inch hole. Leaving the drill bit in the unfinished hole would make a tongue for the snake. Still, I would not sell them as pipes, as I will only make so many. I want to inscribe them with a Cannabis Prohibition is. I think today, I will gather some cherry pieces. and make some blanks. Once I get going I should be able to burn or imprint a few simple words and a date at the rate of one a day from now until whenever.So no, I have never been much of anywhere and since I have a walnut tree to turn into thousands of speaking snake heads, I doubt I go very far out all. 
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Comment #11 posted by agog on April 09, 2004 at 11:50:44 PT:
THC=THC=THC, or Cannabis=Cannabis=Cannabis
Kind readers,How can anyone say that something changes its basic nature as it becomes more pure? The minister's proposal is a cross between alchemy and insanity. We have yet to produce a technology that will turn lead into gold, just as we have yet to turn cannabis into another substance... a dangerous addictive, KILLING substance by producing higher quality plants, selectively bred for positive characteristics.Logic check:
New ultra laundry detergents are concentrated (read improved)we use less, benefit the environment and our clothes are springtime fresh. Same as the old stuff, probably diluted w/less water. Inherent nature stays the same.Cannabis w/5%THC = Cannabis, Cannabis w/20%THC = rare, really good Cannabis, but it is still cannabis..... It doesn't change state, form, or cause us to sprout wings and fly like "red bull" it is still cannabis, with a LD50 that is for all practical purposes impossible to attain making it one of the least toxic ingestibles known.Their reasoning is so flawed that it would be completely laughable were it not for the fact that there seem to be many other equally mentally deficient or morally bankrupt parlamentarians ready to carry that flag....Let us pause for a moment of science......Aghast, Amazed, and still:Agog
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Comment #10 posted by kaptinemo on April 09, 2004 at 11:27:29 PT:
A frightening thought
Many years ago, in the mid-1990's, in one of the Project Censored (http://www.projectcensored.org/) yearly roundups of investigative news stories that had been effectively 'spiked' (killed by editors), I ran across something that I found at first hard to believe: a Pan-European plan (source unfortunately lost to me, but probably American government based) to cause most governments in Western Europe to move away from their traditional Left leanings towards American-style rightist politics. The Project Censored Website's article links only go back as far as 2000, so I can't access them.For those who might remember seeing the same publication and recall it's year of publication (1994-95?) then, it was mentioned as well as Ollie North's infamous REX '84 plan to remove Constitutional government in 'times of emergency' and replace it with a military dictatorship. It looks like, in the case of the Netherlands, the plan succeeded.
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Comment #9 posted by BGreen on April 09, 2004 at 11:07:32 PT
Virgil, Do you have me killfiltered?
I know you frequent the Hempcity website so I just wondered whether you'd actually visited Haarlem.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #8 posted by Virgil on April 09, 2004 at 10:19:20 PT
They will make up a number
How will they determine what is too powerful? They will have a meeting and figure out a number that goes well with their fantasy that will disapear and never be law. The Dutch government is unpopular about like Bu$h and this will not happen ever if they come up with a plant so thick with THC it drips a 100% crystal.The number they chose only stirs up the debate about how incompetent the administration is. They have the recent French elections that hit Chirac's party like there would be tomorrow to think about while they are awaiting their marching orders in the next election.
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Comment #7 posted by fearfull on April 09, 2004 at 10:13:06 PT
They just don't get it...or won't
As the percentage of THC goes up, the smoker has to consume less to achieve the same result. There by making it healthier in the long run. Cannabis smokers are well know for self titration, that is to say you smoke enough to get as high as is comfortable for you and then you stop smoking. As I said smoking less to acieve the same result is less damaging to the lungs.
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Comment #6 posted by Virgil on April 09, 2004 at 10:10:19 PT
Any LG grown in Holland is Nederweed
Just like anyone born in America is American, any laughing grass grown in the Netherlands is Nederweed. It applies to all genetics and it is the fact that it aids the the Dutch economy that makes it significant as distinquished from imported that needlessly lets money leak out of Holland.
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on April 09, 2004 at 10:05:56 PT
Another Question
Thanks Virgil so it isn't a type of Cannabis but more or less a name for potent Cannabis right? How will they determine what is too powerful? 
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Comment #4 posted by BGreen on April 09, 2004 at 10:04:21 PT
Virgil, Have You Visited Haarlem?
I've been to all three Willie Wortels plus several other coffeeshops in that beautiful town.The Reverend Bud Green
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Comment #3 posted by Virgil on April 09, 2004 at 09:56:22 PT
Nederweed is Dutchgrown laughing grass
Nol says in comment1 below- His latest attack on cannabis and coffeeshops is co-based on the increased percentage of THC in the homegrown marihuana, Nederweed. 
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Comment #2 posted by FoM on April 09, 2004 at 09:47:42 PT
What is Nederwiet
I really don't know.
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Comment #1 posted by Virgil on April 09, 2004 at 09:43:14 PT
Nol van Schaik on the subject
The following is the thread opener by Nol at http://www.hempcity.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=398&highlight=Cannabis contradictions in Holland, the never-ending story. Dutch Justice Minister Donner and Health Minister Hoogervorst want to ban Nederweed from coffeeshops, high THC marihuana threatens the health of smokers, they state. The Amsterdam City Council wants to legalise the production of Nederweed, in order to get a transparent situation, and to get the production out of the hands of criminals. Who will win, The Hague or Amsterdam? Translation: “Smoking Nederweed can have very damaging physical and mental effects. The number of reports of psychosis amongst the youth, after smoking Dutch hash has increased enormously, according to the Ministry of Health.” Source: De Telegraaf, April 7, 2004. This is Minister Donner’s motivation to go after the coffeeshops, a very false motivation, that is. Since 1997, youths under 18 were no longer allowed to enter coffeeshops, so the youngsters started buying on the street. On the street, the youth get offered all kinds of drugs, not only cannabis. Yet, the Ministers Donner and Hoogervorst blame the coffeeshops for causing problems in the bodies and minds of people that are not allowed into coffeeshops. Maybe it is the poly drug use of our youth that causes ‘very damaging physical and mental effects’ on our youth, it is certainly not to blame on Holland’s licensed coffeeshops. Justice Minister Donner will use every excuse he can come up with to go after coffeeshops, their suppliers and visitors. His latest attack on cannabis and coffeeshops is co-based on the increased percentage of THC in the homegrown marihuana, Nederweed. According to Minister Hoogervorst, this increase in potency is the cause of many cases of schizophrenia amongst users of cannabis, which makes him think high potency Nederweed and Nederhash can well be considered harddrugs now. Minister Donner will launch an investigation into the THC percentage in Nederweed, to be able to prove there is a significant increase, as Hoogervorst claims. In case Donner does not like the dimensions of that increase, he will ban Nederweed and its extract, Nederhash from coffeeshops, and put them in between heroin, cocaine and amphetamines on the hard drugs list. As far as I am aware, there is no standard for the percentage of THC in cannabis, so when is the percentage too high? Donner will cause worldwide panic amongst tourists planning to smoke cannabis in Amsterdam, as always. As always, I will have to explain the smokers around the world what the implications of Donner’s brain farts could be, if they would be accepted. It practice, it means that Donner will set a certain figure, as the line between cannabis that can be sold through coffeeshops as softdrugs and cannabis that will be considered as harddrugs, with all penal consequences of hard drugs. I am afraid that Donner will try to set the line on 6 %, which practically excludes all Nederweed, except from some outdoor varieties, from Dutch coffeeshops. If the same percentage goes for hash, which is an extracted concentrate of cannabis, it will exclude all hash, except the poisonous soapbar, which hardly contains any THC. That means that Jack Herer and the White Widow will become outlaws in Holland, and all their resinous sister plants as well! Donner has realised he has no power to close the coffeeshops, after his proposals to ban smoking and foreign smokers from coffeeshops, so he is going at the cannabis industry from every other angle he can find. Under Donner, we no longer have raids on growrooms, like the old days, nowadays, we have full out razzia’s; the Police locks off complete flat apartment buildings, scan all apartments with thermal equipment, and kick in the doors of houses that show unusual heat. In that case, two months ago, the police kicked in 14 doors, behind 7 of them was a growroom, in the other 7 houses the heating was just up high… A few weeks later, the Police locked off a complete neighbourhood, after the Utility company tips them about disappearing electricity. Kids leaving the neighbourhood had to open their school bags for the police at the roadblocks. These razzia’s make marihuana growers look like threats to society, while real criminals are being released because of the failure of the Dutch Justice system. Minister Donner and Hoogervorst say they want to ban high percentage THC marihuana for the good of our Dutch society, under pressure of several prohibitionist governments. They are as dumb as a donkey’s behind. Their proposed anti cannabis measurements will endanger the health of cannabis smokers more than in the present situation, and will get organised crime back in the Dutch cannabis trade. Over the last 15 years, Dutch homegrowers have caused a major change in the sales through coffeeshops, by supplying the cannabis industry with the best marihuana they could grow. Before that, the sales in coffeeshops consisted of foreign cannabis products, for about 95 %, all merchandise was smuggled into the Netherlands. The other 5 % was made up by outdoor grown marihuana, with a low THC percentage. Hash, mainly from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Morocco, were brought into the Netherlands by the truck- and shipload, by powerful organisations, causing a lot of gang related crime in our country. Today, 80 % of the cannabis sales in the Dutch coffeeshops consist of Dutch marihuana, Nederweed. The Dutch Homegrown Division wiped out organised crime involved in hash smuggling, by supplying a better quality cannabis product than the ‘old’ hash producing countries. Huge hash transports stopped when hash started stacking up in Dutch warehouses, it was no longer selling. Hash is now only available in small quantities of high quality, smuggled in by adventurers, like in the beginning. The sales of foreign hash and (seeded) marihuana are only 20 % of the Dutch cannabis market now, that figure will only decrease more in the feature, due to the production of hash out of Nederweed, the so-called Nederhash. Even if Minister Donner gets his will done, the Dutch smokers will not stop smoking, and coffeeshops can only keep selling low-grade weed and hash. The demand for cannabis will not disappear, which will awake the sleeping giants of the former hash trade. The same criminal organisations, and some new gangs, will start the transport lines from Morocco, Afghanistan and Pakistan back up in no time. Gangs will start fighting over market shares again; bullets will fly on crowded squares and streets. To get the huge transports across borders, customs and police officers will again be intimidated and/or corrupted by ruthless gangsters. In other words, Minister Donner’s proposed measurements against cannabis and coffeeshops will benefit criminals and harm Dutch society, big time! If Donner does not realise all this, he is just plain dumb. Minister Hoogervorst, our Minister of Health with dental problems, states that the use of cannabis is the cause of the increasing number of people suffering from psychosis and schizophrenia. The use of cannabis might trigger psychosis in people, like the use of alcohol, XTC, LSD, mushrooms, cocaine, heroin, morphine and a long list of other drugs, or a tragic event in the family. Remkes and Donner are basing their statistics on estimated figures, as always. They state that in the Netherlands only 400.000 people use cannabis, 2.5 % of the population! This is absolutely untrue, but if it were true, it would only underline the success of the current Dutch Drugs Policy! In spite of all criticism on our country’s liberal drugs policy and cannabis selling coffeeshops, only 2.5 % of the Dutch population actually uses cannabis, with the best possible availability of this soft drug in the world! Donner should be pleased with that, the cannabis consumption in the prohibitionist US, for instance, is 9.3 %, according to UN Drug Abuse figures. This report also shows that cannabis consumption in the Netherlands are 5.6 %, more than twice as much as Donner and Hoogervorst state in their proposals. It also unveils that the Netherlands are in the 31st position in cannabis consumption percentage, far under the US, the UK, Spain, France, Germany and Belgium, to mention a few nations that criticise the Dutch liberal cannabis policy! Minister Donner and Hoogervorst know the figures in this list, yet, they state that the Netherlands only has 2.5 % of its population using cannabis. That makes them frauds, in my opinion. Source: UNODC – Global Illicit Drug Trends 2003. If Donner and Hoogervorst’s given figures, 2.5 %, were true however, Donner and Hoogervorst should be proudly telling the world to allow coffeeshops to reduce the use of cannabis in all other countries as well, instead of trying to get them all closed in their own country. If the Dutch smokers would be forced into smoking low-grade cannabis in coffeeshops, they will have to smoke more joints to get the high they expect out of smoking cannabis, forcing them to smoke twice as much joints as they did when smoking strong Nederweed. This does not really contribute to a better health, especially when one considers most of the Dutch cannabis smokers use tobacco in their joints! Minister Remkes, who smokes tobacco himself, does not seem to care about that, he intends to prevent mental diseases with his proposed measurements, seemingly not aware of the certain increase of serious lung damage amongst cannabis users. Minister Hoogervorst is an incompetent Minister of Health, if he did not foresee all this, before he shouted his smelly loud mouth. It would also make smoking a lot more expensive for cannabis smokers; they would have to buy twice the amount of cannabis they used to buy, to fill the double amount of joints they will start smoking. Of course, the coffeeshop owners raise their voice in protest, with very good arguments, as you can imagine, but that will not impress Donner and Hoogervorst so much, as they consider my colleagues and me the roots of all evil. They will ignore our criticism, as always, and just carry on with what they have cooked up, if they get the consent of the Parliament. That will be hard, only the CDA wants coffeeshops closed and cannabis banned, with the surprising new support of D’66, one of their coalition partners. Their other coalition partner, the VVD, has no stance about cannabis, as always. All other parties do not wish a society without coffeeshops, they realise it would only take the sales and consumption of cannabis to the streets, mixed up with all other drugs and their users. The strongest opposition, in my opinion, comes from the political fractions of the Amsterdam City Council, all of which, besides Donner’s CDA, of course, which clearly turn the Donner/Hoogervorst plans down. They are presenting their plans to legalise the production of cannabis for coffeeshops a day before Donner will plead for research into the THC level in Parliament, on Thursday, April 8. The two ignorant Ministers cannot ignore the criticism of the Amsterdam City Council; it will make them give up on their stupid idea. Donner’s anti cannabis plans are as follows: Coffeeshops near schools and in urban area will no longer be tolerated. ++That regulation exists since 1996, all coffeeshops near schools have been moved since then. Donner picked up an old stick to beat up on a dead dog. Cannabis tourism in the border areas will be discouraged. ++Sure, like stopping the foreign visitors on their way back home, after buying cannabis. These actions are executed by the Netherlands, together with Germany and/or Belgium. Foreigners can just keep buying cannabis in Haarlem and Amsterdam, however. Eliminate all cannabis producers, penalties for cannabis production up to a maximum penalty of 5 years in prison. ++Nederweed out, foreign hash in? All the money involved in the production and trade in cannabis will no longer flow into the struggling Dutch economy, it will now go to Morocco, Pakistan, India, Thailand, Mexico, Columbia, Afghanistan, Lebanon, South Africa and Nepal. These are the countries that produce hash and marihuana too, we sell products from this country from our coffeeshops already. The small transports of high quality foreign cannabis will be replaced by mega transports of low grade hash, soft drugs will again be in the hands of tough criminals. The Netherlands need to build a few huge new prisons to lock up all cannabis growers that get caught by Donner’s cunning police officers, all Dutch prison cells are full. Ban cannabis with a high THC level, for health issues. ++How about banning liquor with a high alcohol percentage, like whisky, vodka, gin, and rum, we all know these substances do kill people? Let’s put all these on the black list too, so bars can only sell beer and wine from then…. The ”Manifest to normalise the soft drugs market”, published by all Amsterdam political fractions, except CDA, takes the following stance: Legalise the production of Nederweed for coffeeshops. Check the quality and production methods of this legally produced cannabis. No more restrictions on the coffeeshops stock, drop the 500 grams limit. Stop the export of Nederweed by acting against unlicensed growers. The Manifest states that criminalising Nederweed would cause huge social problems and create thousands of criminal records. They do accept that Nederweed should be investigated for THC percentages, from the medical point of view. I just read that the Cabinet, which means the coalition of CDA, VVD and D’66 have agreed with the Donner/Hoogervorst proposals. This means there will be an investigation into the percentage of THC and the long terms of cannabis use. If these researches show the THC level damages the health of cannabis smokers, the sales of Nederweed will be prohibited. This would create a new market in the Netherlands, good, quality Nederweed will be for sale in the black circuit from then, for high prices, as they are now considered a hard drug. It will then be totally out of control of any authority, even Donner’s and Hoogervorst’s, well done, gentlemen! The struggling Dutch harddrugs dealers will gladly add cannabis to their wide range of products. The opposition in the Dutch Parliament will not like this at all, they would like to see cannabis legalised. Sceptic Members of Dutch Parliament had a nice comment on all the commotion around THC and coffeeshops, in the Telegraaf of April 7, 2004: “Sceptic Members of Parliament point out this is a ‘fake discussion’, because it does not make a difference to smoke one Nederweed joint, or two joints of foreign origin” It does, dear politicians, we have to smoke twice as much to get a proper high, including twice as much tobacco, hash does not burn in a joint without tobacco! That’s all, for the time being, I will keep you informed about the follow-ups. Nol van Schaik. Coffeeshop entrepreneur, author of “The Dutch Experience, 30 years of hash and grass in coffeeshops” www.hempcity.net www.unodc.org United Nations Drug Figures www.manonvandergarde.nl Manifest to normalise the soft drugs market www.detelegraaf.nl For the full newspaper articles. _________________ In Cannabis Fidelis
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