Drawing deeply on a joint in his favourite Dutch coffee shop, Belgian student Jonathan shrugs at plans to close four of the establishments selling legal cannabis in this border town.
"I will simply go somewhere else. There are coffee shops everywhere," he told AFP, declining to give his surname but serenely puffing away in public.
Pushed by irate residents sick of what they say is criminal and other fallout from the drug sales, four such establishments will be shut at the insistence of Roosendaal mayor Michel Marijnen from February next year.
On Friday, the mayors of about 30 Dutch municipalities will meet in Almere, north-east of the capital Amsterdam, to urge the government to act against the nuisance they claim is caused by drug tourism.
In 1976, the Netherlands decriminalised the consumption of cannabis, and the possession of less than five grams. Its cultivation and wholesale remains prohibited.
Once the coffee shops are closed, Jonathan and 13,000 other tourists, mostly French and Belgian, who visit the small southern city weekly for a cannabis fix, will have to find a new hunting ground.
The city has 67,000 inhabitants.
"This only serves to displace the problem," said the owner of coffee shop Liberty II, who would not give his name.
"People will simply go to Etten-Leur, 6 kilometres (four miles) from here, or to Breda, 15 kilometres away."
"You don't regulate this mass phenomenon by closing a shop," added 30-year-old Brussels-based sound engineer Christophe. "Yes, people smoke and they are willing to do many kilometres to get their dope.
"They will simply go higher up in the Netherlands."
Mayor Marijnen defends his decision to close all four of Roosendaal's coffee shops -- establishments in the Netherlands that have a special licence to sell a limited amount of cannabis.
"It had become unbearable," he told AFP.
But Dutch patrons of Liberty II are dismayed.
"Why don't we rather put a sticker on the door that bans the Belgians and French?" fumed one while sucking on a joint.
The sales counter of the coffee shop is located right at the back, where customers wait their turn patiently to place an order -- grass or hashish -- which is presented in small plastic bags.
"On weekends, people queue right to the front door," said Christophe, the sound engineer, who has been a regular client of Liberty II for five years.
The establishment has small wooden tables for those who wish to enjoy a glass of juice or a coffee while they try out the product, listen to some music, or strike up a conversation.
The student Jonathan came from Antwerp in the north of Belgium with a friend, like every other week.
"It gives us the opportunity for an outing, we buy our dope, we roll a joint and quietly drink tea," he explains while patiently mixing cannabis and tobacco on a rolling paper.
The coffee shop owner is irate, however. "We had proposed to the mayor that we move the coffee shops to the outskirts of the city, but he was not willing to negotiate," he said.
Replied Marijnen: "Moving the coffee shops would not address the problem of criminality created by the influx of foreigners. The sums of money in circulation are gigantic and will always attract criminal elements.
"We are very concerned about the effects of such an environment on our children."
Toon, a citizen of Roosendaal, complains bitterly of traffic congestion caused by the drug tourists.
"They are aggressive, and there are many small drug dealers who are a law unto themselves," he said, expressing "delight" at the pending closure and a hopeful return to small city life without the ceaseless flow of cars with foreign number plates.
According to police, 1,300 people were arrested between January 2007 and July 2008 for offenses related to the coffee shops. Narcotics worth some 35 million euros on the black market were seized.
For several years, added police spokeswoman Inge Rijgersberg, "organised criminals have been controlling the hemp culture, the illegal sale and transport" in the city.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: AFP
Contact: Google News
Copyright: 2008 AFP
Website: Dutch "Coffee Shop" Debate: Will Closing Only Shift Drug Traffic?
"I will simply go somewhere else. There are coffee shops everywhere," he told AFP, declining to give his surname but serenely puffing away in public.
Pushed by irate residents sick of what they say is criminal and other fallout from the drug sales, four such establishments will be shut at the insistence of Roosendaal mayor Michel Marijnen from February next year.
On Friday, the mayors of about 30 Dutch municipalities will meet in Almere, north-east of the capital Amsterdam, to urge the government to act against the nuisance they claim is caused by drug tourism.
In 1976, the Netherlands decriminalised the consumption of cannabis, and the possession of less than five grams. Its cultivation and wholesale remains prohibited.
Once the coffee shops are closed, Jonathan and 13,000 other tourists, mostly French and Belgian, who visit the small southern city weekly for a cannabis fix, will have to find a new hunting ground.
The city has 67,000 inhabitants.
"This only serves to displace the problem," said the owner of coffee shop Liberty II, who would not give his name.
"People will simply go to Etten-Leur, 6 kilometres (four miles) from here, or to Breda, 15 kilometres away."
"You don't regulate this mass phenomenon by closing a shop," added 30-year-old Brussels-based sound engineer Christophe. "Yes, people smoke and they are willing to do many kilometres to get their dope.
"They will simply go higher up in the Netherlands."
Mayor Marijnen defends his decision to close all four of Roosendaal's coffee shops -- establishments in the Netherlands that have a special licence to sell a limited amount of cannabis.
"It had become unbearable," he told AFP.
But Dutch patrons of Liberty II are dismayed.
"Why don't we rather put a sticker on the door that bans the Belgians and French?" fumed one while sucking on a joint.
The sales counter of the coffee shop is located right at the back, where customers wait their turn patiently to place an order -- grass or hashish -- which is presented in small plastic bags.
"On weekends, people queue right to the front door," said Christophe, the sound engineer, who has been a regular client of Liberty II for five years.
The establishment has small wooden tables for those who wish to enjoy a glass of juice or a coffee while they try out the product, listen to some music, or strike up a conversation.
The student Jonathan came from Antwerp in the north of Belgium with a friend, like every other week.
"It gives us the opportunity for an outing, we buy our dope, we roll a joint and quietly drink tea," he explains while patiently mixing cannabis and tobacco on a rolling paper.
The coffee shop owner is irate, however. "We had proposed to the mayor that we move the coffee shops to the outskirts of the city, but he was not willing to negotiate," he said.
Replied Marijnen: "Moving the coffee shops would not address the problem of criminality created by the influx of foreigners. The sums of money in circulation are gigantic and will always attract criminal elements.
"We are very concerned about the effects of such an environment on our children."
Toon, a citizen of Roosendaal, complains bitterly of traffic congestion caused by the drug tourists.
"They are aggressive, and there are many small drug dealers who are a law unto themselves," he said, expressing "delight" at the pending closure and a hopeful return to small city life without the ceaseless flow of cars with foreign number plates.
According to police, 1,300 people were arrested between January 2007 and July 2008 for offenses related to the coffee shops. Narcotics worth some 35 million euros on the black market were seized.
For several years, added police spokeswoman Inge Rijgersberg, "organised criminals have been controlling the hemp culture, the illegal sale and transport" in the city.
News Hawk- Ganjarden 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: AFP
Contact: Google News
Copyright: 2008 AFP
Website: Dutch "Coffee Shop" Debate: Will Closing Only Shift Drug Traffic?
