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Amsterdam fights announced closure of coffeeshops

Amsterdam Tourist Information • Posted: December 8, 2008

Recently Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen saw himself ‘forced’ to close 43 of its 228 coffeeshops — licensed establishments where marijuana can legally be bought and used — by the end of 2011.

In doing so, Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen “reluctantly” follows up a federal government directive to establish ‘distance criteria‘ between schools and coffeeshops.

However, after both Amsterdam locals and city leaders angry about that approach, Cohen has promised to look for alternatives:

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands — Amsterdam will fight national efforts to crack down on marijuana cafes — arguing that the city’s establishments are so strictly regulated that it is unnecessary to comply with a government ban on having them near schools.

Mayor Job Cohen’s promise to lobby the Justice Ministry to give Amsterdam an exception came after city leaders overwhelmingly voted to challenge the issue. They argue the cafes are already so closely watched they don’t need new rules to keep children away.

Cohen told national broadcaster NOS that “if there are other possibilities” to an outright ban, “then we’d like to look at them.”

City aldermen want Amsterdam to relax a proposed ban on the cafes within 250 meters (yards) of schools. Cohen said he is waiting for more clarity from the government before deciding on his next step.
The challenge comes only days after a separate national ban on psychedelic mushrooms went into effect. Amsterdam also opposed that move and has so far declined to enforce it.

City spokesman Bas Bruijn said the city wasn’t rebelling against the national government’s decisions, but it was unrealistic to expect the community and local police to be ready to enforce the mushroom law without training and additional resources.
[...]

Christian Democrat Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has said he has “no intention” of changing national marijuana policy, but he hinted he might be flexible on the school zone law.
- Source: Toby Sterling, AP via Fox News, Dec. 5, 2008

While the sale and use of marijunana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, the government follows an official policy of tolerance toward so-called ‘coffeeshops.’ This approach is meant to separate the sale and use of soft drugs from that of hard drugs.

The benefits and problems of tolerance policy are described here.

A huge blind spot in the policy is that while coffeeshops may legally sell marijuana, it is technically illegal for them to purchase it — since the commercial cultivation and supply of cannabis is against the law.

At a recent “weed” conference, mayors and leaders of municipalities throughout the Netherlands made clear they want that part of the policy dropped. According to them decriminalizing the supply chain will help keep organized crime out of the picture.

AP point out…

… [t]he Dutch Parliament voted to regulate growers once before in 2005, but the government refused, saying it would amount to legalization and lead to a confrontation with the European Union.

Polls suggest most voters support decriminalizing marijuana cultivation, but the coalition government is led by the conservative Christian Democrats, who oppose it. Cohen’s left-leaning Labor party is the most prominent advocate of a more liberal stance.