Pubdate: Sat, 03 Dec 2005
Source: Chronicle Herald (CN NS)
Copyright: 2005 The Halifax Herald Limited
Contact:  http://thechronicleherald.ca/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/180
Author: Associated Press
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

DUTCH POLITICIANS FAVOUR POT ON FARMS

Government May Not Be Able To Halt Popular Plan

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A broad coalition of political parties 
announced a plan Friday to regulate marijuana farming on the model of 
tobacco, in what may be the most significant development in Dutch 
drug policy in years.

Opponents in the government said the move would be tantamount to 
legalization. But the proponents, representing a large majority in 
parliament, have threatened a showdown if the government tries to 
block the proposal.

Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende and his Christian Democrat party 
oppose allowing cannabis cultivation because it would set the 
Netherlands another step apart from the rest of Europe.

"When making drug policy, you can't just base it on national 
considerations alone, you have to also think international 
relations," Balkenende said in a reaction to the plan at his weekly 
news briefing.

"This experiment would be at odds with Dutch law and there's a legal 
problem" internationally as well, he said.

But legislator Frans Weekers, whose conservative VVD party recently 
swung its support to the proposed program, said the current policy is 
"hypocritical and leading to increasing problems."

"There comes a moment when you say: 'Now we have to take the next 
step,'" Weekers said in a telephone interview.

"If this pilot program works and we can show to everyone that it's an 
improvement, then you have a good argument to take to foreign governments."

He added there was no support at all for criminalizing marijuana 
among either politicians or Dutch society.

After 30 years of tolerating marijuana, usage rates in the 
Netherlands are in the middle of international norms. Data from 
various governments compiled by Trimbos, the Netherlands' Institute 
for Health and Addiction, shows usage is higher in the Netherlands 
than in Scandinavia but lower than in the United States and Britain.

Under current Dutch policy, marijuana and hashish are illegal but 
police don 't fine smokers for possession of less than five grams or 
prosecute for possession of less than 30 grams. Authorities look the 
other way regarding the open sale of cannabis in designated "coffee shops."

But growers are subject to raids and prosecution, giving rise to a 
contradictory system where shop owners have no legal way to purchase 
their best-selling product.

Growers often operate from underground greenhouses in homes and 
garages. Critics said this leads to the theft of electricity in 
unsafe circumstances, causing fires and bringing criminality into 
residential neighbourhoods.

Under the test program, to be conducted near the southern city 
Maastricht, existing health and safety standards will apply to growers.

Coffee shops would be required to provide consumers with information 
about the health hazards of smoking and about the chemical content of 
the marijuana they buy.

Dutch mayors along the country's borders have lobbied hardest for the 
change, facing problems from drug tourists from Germany and Belgium 
who drive to the Netherlands to buy supplies.

Supporters said regulation of production would, like regulating 
tobacco, make smuggling large quantities across the border more difficult.

"It will be possible to trace where cannabis is grown and where it's 
sold," Weekers said.

It also could open the door to outright legalization and taxation of 
an industry with annual domestic sales estimated at the equivalent of 
more than $800 million Cdn.

But Balkenende said it wasn't clear whether regulation would be 
enough to dissuade drug tourists or dealers from buying and selling 
on the black market.

"You have to ask whether this experiment could solve these problems," he said.

The Justice Ministry has ordered an investigation into whether the 
plan would violate international law and spokesman Wibbe Alkema said 
the findings are expected within several days.

Weekers estimated the plan will be approved by two-thirds of the 
Dutch parliament, building consensus across the political spectrum, 
as happened before the adoption of other progressive Dutch policies, 
such as legalizing euthanasia and gay marriage.

The next step is a major debate on drug policy scheduled for later this month.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman