T
The420Guy
Guest
About the Belgian Hempmuseum...
The Belgian government took a step towards decriminalizing marihuana in Januari 2001, intending to allow Belgians over 18 to grow 5 marihuanaplants for personal use.
Their was no limit to the amount one can own, the police will only take action in case of problematic cannabis use?
The intended Belgian policy does not allow the sales of cannabis from coffeeshops, like in Holland, or from every other place, even giving cannabis for free is not allowed!
The minister of Justice in Belgium, Marc Verwilghen, said that those who want to smoke it, have to go to a Dutch coffeeshop to get it.
I was already in contact with Nico de Wilde, who runs a Belgian cannabis portal, so we made public that we wanted to open a coffeeshop in Belgium.
Nico announced it would be located in Bornem, his hometown, some 30 kms. from Antwerp. Bornem's town-mayor was furious, and stated he would close the place and arrest the ones involved, on national tv, so this plan was canceled, of course.
The Justice minister also announced that discovery of driving 'under the influence' of cannabis would lead to a loss of the drivers liscense of those guilty, for the rest of their life....
This made me decide to start selling cannabis to Belgium online, from coffeeshop Willie Wortel in Haarlem, with our name, adress and phonenumber underneath the order form, so everybody could see who was responsible for it.
This way the merchandise came from a Dutch coffeeshop, and the smoker did not have to drive back home stoned....
I hired bannerspace on the site of www.cannabis-belgie.com , after asking Nico, the webmaster, if he wanted to go along with this idea, wich he did.
Nico and Belgian senator Vincent van Quickenborne raised a lot of attention in the Belgian media, so the sales started the next day, and we started sending a few days later.
After a week I was called by Nico, he told me he was warned by the Belgian Government, he had to take our banner down, or.....??
The banner was taken down, I did not want to get other people in trouble, but we kept on sending, we kept getting orders in.
The online sales were only 'discovered' in Holland after 3 weeks, I was called by the local police, and had to take the site down, or the police would close the coffeeshop involved, Willie Wortel.
With the online sales and a possible Belgian coffeeshop excluded, I decided to find a place in Antwerp, to start a branch of the Global Hempmuseum there, the need for information seemed big...
This plan was also received with a lot of critic, the museum was an undercover coffeeshop, was making promotion for drug use etc.
We found a building in Antwerp, close to the Central station, with the right size and price, so we announced that on our site. The message was picked up, by the right wing Vlaams Blok party especially, their leader, Filip Dewinter, launched an anti hempmuseum action right away. He and his black-souled followers have been protesting in front of our intended museum twice now, both of the times I was not present in Antwerp.
We were still working on the building, because we think that nothing can be done against giving information about a plant, intending to proceed with what we planned.
I asked Gerard Silvis, a Haarlem policeofficer, our contact with the police, if he could make up an evaluation report, and send that to the Antwerp authorities, to accompany my invitation to them, for a tour in the Global Hempmuseum in Haarlem.
Silvis said he would do so, and he called me the same afternoon to tell me the report was finished, I could have a look into it before he would send it out.
The report was pretty fair, and Silvis included he would be present at the proposed tour, if his schedule would let him.
I wrote my invitation the same day, and delivered a copy at the police station for Gerard Silvis to read, I would send it out after his call for approval.
I contacted Silvis the next day, to ask if he agreed with my text, and if I could send it out. Silvis said he agreed with my words and that he already sent it all out, he included my invitation in a police envelope....I thought that was great!
The meaning of inviting the Antwerp-city authorities was to make it easier for both parties, and to get to know eachother, of course.
The Antwerp reps would just have to point out the items they do not want in the Antwerp branch, so we both know how to get started without causing problems on either side.
The invitation is sent two weeks ago now, no answer from Antwerp so far, but I did get a nasty letter from Gerard Silvis' chief, district-commisioner de Ruijter...
He stated that the report from Gerard Silvis should not have been made nor handed to me, this was not the usual procedure in his department.
He made clear that he was not charmed by the way things were going, and that he notified the Antwerp authorities, to let them know the report was not his idea, and that it had to be ignored by the authorities.
Mr. De Ruijter also said that, if the Antwerp authorities want a report on the Haarlem Global Hempmuseum, and my role as the manager, they would have to write him a request for that.
I was stunned, first, I did not know that Silvis did not take it up with his superiors, and I never expected this fierce reaction, from someone I had never met before...
Gerard Silvis has been involved in the set-up of the museum, so we knew how to do it before we opened, making it clear for the police and us.
Silvis is well informed on all cannabis issues, he has been visiting the museum with officials from Ireland, Israel and national police officers, we always did the museumtours and explanation together, so these tours were clear as a bell.
The Tilburg police took a tour with some Hungarian officials, showing off with what we display.
Now I have to rely on the opinion of a man that had never even set foot in the Global Hempmuseum, to inform the authorities in Belgium.
So I went to the policestation, I was received by van Rooijen, a collegue of Silvis.
I told him about the letter, and how I felt about it, because I did not know about their procedures, I just asked for an evaluation report.
Van Rooijen even made it worse, he told me from now on I had to contact him about the museum, I would receive an other letter, telling me I could not be in touch with Gerard Silvis anymore!!
That was the last drop, I told van Rooijen that I did not agree with this stunt, and that I would close the museum in Haarlem as soon as possible, no more tours for cops and other civil servants.
On the last tour, with the Israeli and the Dutch narcotic detectives ( march 16, 2001), the two Dutch detectives asked if they could have a tour in June, with about 30 narcotic detectives, from around the world, including DEA and FBI!!
Of course I agreed, let the truth be known, especially to those against us, I even felt proud of this request, the Dutch detectives were pleased as well.
The tour would include a visit to Coffeeshop Willie Wortel as well, so that would give the lawpeople a good insight of the system in practice.
I told van Rooijen that I would not do it, this was set up by Gerard Silvis, and now they set him aside, no official tour without Gerard Silvis!!
After this talk I wrote a letter to Mr. De Ruijter, telling him I would not open a hempmuseum in Antwerp, because of his unreasonable action and words.
I stated I expect little cooperation from him, telling him he was not informed about the subject well enough.
I also asked him to offer my excuses to Gerard Silvis, since I was not allowed to talk to him anymore, I never meant to get him in trouble.
I will close the Global Hempmuseum at the end of this year, if I can break the lease contract open, and I will not open one in Antwerp now, cannabisinfo is not well accepted in Holland and Belgium.
Instead I will turn the Antwerp project into a major grow- and headshop, informing the growers-to-be only, no general info, no tours, no curious cops.....
I have had it with authorities, governments and cops, let them stay dumb, I like them that way, businesswise, and that is going to be my main target now: Making money on marihuana.
The first profit is that I don't have to come up with a 100.000 guilders a year, that's what we come short on the museum per year, I love doing business already...
We plan to open the place in the first week of May, transmitting it worldwide through a satellite connection!
Keep yourself updated through our sites:
www.globalhempmuseum.nl https://net.clubs.nl/cannabis our belgian co-op.
www.wwwshop.nl coffeeshop Willie Wortel
www.go2coffeeshops.com coffeeshops and merchandise
www.dutchjoint.nl coffeeshop Dutch Joint
www.hempcity.com our digital city.
Nol van Schaik, founder Global Hempmuseum.
The Belgian government took a step towards decriminalizing marihuana in Januari 2001, intending to allow Belgians over 18 to grow 5 marihuanaplants for personal use.
Their was no limit to the amount one can own, the police will only take action in case of problematic cannabis use?
The intended Belgian policy does not allow the sales of cannabis from coffeeshops, like in Holland, or from every other place, even giving cannabis for free is not allowed!
The minister of Justice in Belgium, Marc Verwilghen, said that those who want to smoke it, have to go to a Dutch coffeeshop to get it.
I was already in contact with Nico de Wilde, who runs a Belgian cannabis portal, so we made public that we wanted to open a coffeeshop in Belgium.
Nico announced it would be located in Bornem, his hometown, some 30 kms. from Antwerp. Bornem's town-mayor was furious, and stated he would close the place and arrest the ones involved, on national tv, so this plan was canceled, of course.
The Justice minister also announced that discovery of driving 'under the influence' of cannabis would lead to a loss of the drivers liscense of those guilty, for the rest of their life....
This made me decide to start selling cannabis to Belgium online, from coffeeshop Willie Wortel in Haarlem, with our name, adress and phonenumber underneath the order form, so everybody could see who was responsible for it.
This way the merchandise came from a Dutch coffeeshop, and the smoker did not have to drive back home stoned....
I hired bannerspace on the site of www.cannabis-belgie.com , after asking Nico, the webmaster, if he wanted to go along with this idea, wich he did.
Nico and Belgian senator Vincent van Quickenborne raised a lot of attention in the Belgian media, so the sales started the next day, and we started sending a few days later.
After a week I was called by Nico, he told me he was warned by the Belgian Government, he had to take our banner down, or.....??
The banner was taken down, I did not want to get other people in trouble, but we kept on sending, we kept getting orders in.
The online sales were only 'discovered' in Holland after 3 weeks, I was called by the local police, and had to take the site down, or the police would close the coffeeshop involved, Willie Wortel.
With the online sales and a possible Belgian coffeeshop excluded, I decided to find a place in Antwerp, to start a branch of the Global Hempmuseum there, the need for information seemed big...
This plan was also received with a lot of critic, the museum was an undercover coffeeshop, was making promotion for drug use etc.
We found a building in Antwerp, close to the Central station, with the right size and price, so we announced that on our site. The message was picked up, by the right wing Vlaams Blok party especially, their leader, Filip Dewinter, launched an anti hempmuseum action right away. He and his black-souled followers have been protesting in front of our intended museum twice now, both of the times I was not present in Antwerp.
We were still working on the building, because we think that nothing can be done against giving information about a plant, intending to proceed with what we planned.
I asked Gerard Silvis, a Haarlem policeofficer, our contact with the police, if he could make up an evaluation report, and send that to the Antwerp authorities, to accompany my invitation to them, for a tour in the Global Hempmuseum in Haarlem.
Silvis said he would do so, and he called me the same afternoon to tell me the report was finished, I could have a look into it before he would send it out.
The report was pretty fair, and Silvis included he would be present at the proposed tour, if his schedule would let him.
I wrote my invitation the same day, and delivered a copy at the police station for Gerard Silvis to read, I would send it out after his call for approval.
I contacted Silvis the next day, to ask if he agreed with my text, and if I could send it out. Silvis said he agreed with my words and that he already sent it all out, he included my invitation in a police envelope....I thought that was great!
The meaning of inviting the Antwerp-city authorities was to make it easier for both parties, and to get to know eachother, of course.
The Antwerp reps would just have to point out the items they do not want in the Antwerp branch, so we both know how to get started without causing problems on either side.
The invitation is sent two weeks ago now, no answer from Antwerp so far, but I did get a nasty letter from Gerard Silvis' chief, district-commisioner de Ruijter...
He stated that the report from Gerard Silvis should not have been made nor handed to me, this was not the usual procedure in his department.
He made clear that he was not charmed by the way things were going, and that he notified the Antwerp authorities, to let them know the report was not his idea, and that it had to be ignored by the authorities.
Mr. De Ruijter also said that, if the Antwerp authorities want a report on the Haarlem Global Hempmuseum, and my role as the manager, they would have to write him a request for that.
I was stunned, first, I did not know that Silvis did not take it up with his superiors, and I never expected this fierce reaction, from someone I had never met before...
Gerard Silvis has been involved in the set-up of the museum, so we knew how to do it before we opened, making it clear for the police and us.
Silvis is well informed on all cannabis issues, he has been visiting the museum with officials from Ireland, Israel and national police officers, we always did the museumtours and explanation together, so these tours were clear as a bell.
The Tilburg police took a tour with some Hungarian officials, showing off with what we display.
Now I have to rely on the opinion of a man that had never even set foot in the Global Hempmuseum, to inform the authorities in Belgium.
So I went to the policestation, I was received by van Rooijen, a collegue of Silvis.
I told him about the letter, and how I felt about it, because I did not know about their procedures, I just asked for an evaluation report.
Van Rooijen even made it worse, he told me from now on I had to contact him about the museum, I would receive an other letter, telling me I could not be in touch with Gerard Silvis anymore!!
That was the last drop, I told van Rooijen that I did not agree with this stunt, and that I would close the museum in Haarlem as soon as possible, no more tours for cops and other civil servants.
On the last tour, with the Israeli and the Dutch narcotic detectives ( march 16, 2001), the two Dutch detectives asked if they could have a tour in June, with about 30 narcotic detectives, from around the world, including DEA and FBI!!
Of course I agreed, let the truth be known, especially to those against us, I even felt proud of this request, the Dutch detectives were pleased as well.
The tour would include a visit to Coffeeshop Willie Wortel as well, so that would give the lawpeople a good insight of the system in practice.
I told van Rooijen that I would not do it, this was set up by Gerard Silvis, and now they set him aside, no official tour without Gerard Silvis!!
After this talk I wrote a letter to Mr. De Ruijter, telling him I would not open a hempmuseum in Antwerp, because of his unreasonable action and words.
I stated I expect little cooperation from him, telling him he was not informed about the subject well enough.
I also asked him to offer my excuses to Gerard Silvis, since I was not allowed to talk to him anymore, I never meant to get him in trouble.
I will close the Global Hempmuseum at the end of this year, if I can break the lease contract open, and I will not open one in Antwerp now, cannabisinfo is not well accepted in Holland and Belgium.
Instead I will turn the Antwerp project into a major grow- and headshop, informing the growers-to-be only, no general info, no tours, no curious cops.....
I have had it with authorities, governments and cops, let them stay dumb, I like them that way, businesswise, and that is going to be my main target now: Making money on marihuana.
The first profit is that I don't have to come up with a 100.000 guilders a year, that's what we come short on the museum per year, I love doing business already...
We plan to open the place in the first week of May, transmitting it worldwide through a satellite connection!
Keep yourself updated through our sites:
www.globalhempmuseum.nl https://net.clubs.nl/cannabis our belgian co-op.
www.wwwshop.nl coffeeshop Willie Wortel
www.go2coffeeshops.com coffeeshops and merchandise
www.dutchjoint.nl coffeeshop Dutch Joint
www.hempcity.com our digital city.
Nol van Schaik, founder Global Hempmuseum.
