Mayor Rob van Gijzel of Eindhoven in the south of the Netherlands wants the city’s ‘coffeeshops’ - outlets which are allowed to sell small amounts of marijuana - to become clubs. They would then be given permission to cultivate cannabis for their members.
For many years, people have struggled to make sense of the grey area surrounding Dutch ‘coffeeshops’: while officials turn a blind eye to the in-store sale of cannabis products, growing and wholesale are still strictly enforced, meaning that shops have to buy their supplies from criminal growers.
Mr Van Gijzel’s idea capitalises on the fact that Dutch judicial authorities do not prosecute individuals for growing up to five cannabis plants for personal use. He says that, if the Eindhoven ‘coffeeshops’ became clubs, they would then be allowed to grow up to five cannabis plants for each of their members and sell the resulting marijuana crop.
The mayor’s plan has already been rejected by the Dutch justice ministry and regional politicians. Only Labour Party MPs have given it some support.
© Radio Netherlands Worldwide
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I don't understand why they just can't legalize it once and for all, the only bad thing behind marijuana is the drug dealers it supports, nothing else. It is widely known that cannabis seeds UK are a good source of proteins and smoking the herb helps those in critical pain, so in my opinion they should quit banning it already and see the good side of it as well.
There's no common sense here at all, sorry to say! They are attempting to LIMIT the public's acces to cannabis found in coffee shops to a specific clientele, adult citizens of the Netherlands. I think this is breaking the EU Constitution, which allows free movement across borders to citizens of all EU nations. If a German, a Frenchman, or a Belgian can get a job or a candy bar in the Netherlands, then it only makes sense that they should enjoy cannabis there. It is a business, and not a club.
And what is a young user, anyway? This is just fascism manifesting itself as ageist discrimination. And no cash payments? What better way to follow and harrass you, my dear, than to have a paper trail that leads to you. :
None (but me) dare call it STATE TERRORISM.