You have to wear a jacket for entry....
Posted on 07/03/2009 2:04:50 AM PDT by Schnucki
The committee on drugs policy recommends making the coffee shops members-only clubs, and experimenting with legal cannabis production. Neither will pass the European test.
We can't go on like this, but where do we go from here? That has been the miserable state of the Dutch policy on drugs for years. Supporters of prohibition and tolerance have each other pinned down.
They know that the production of cannabis invites crime, that the Netherlands has become a large-scale exporter of cannabis, that cannabis consumption leads to children dropping out of school, and aggravates social problems, and home-growing runs down neighbourhoods.
The once carefree subculture of soft drugs has become a tough business. "It's a mess", Labour member of parliament Lea Bouwmeester said this week as she introduced a last-minute proposal to legalise the production of cannabis in an attempt to save the coffee shops.
True to custom, the government set up a commission in the hope of clearing the trenches of the drugs debate. That commission has now given its recommendations. The message is clear: the current tolerance policy has become untenable. But the commission doesn't have a miracle solution either. How could it when we live in a borderless corner of the European Union? The commission too is balancing between the need to protect small-scale private users, and the need to fight corruption of the system.
The committee rightly puts soft drugs in a larger context by including alcohol in the debate and recommending a minimum age of 18 for both substances. This is in line with new insights about the effect of both THC and alcohol on the undeveloped brain. In short, the longer consumption of THC or alcohol are put off, the better.
Alcohol and drugs will come to play a role in the lives of many, but that consumption should be allowed to begin at a young age is an indefensible position. A change in mentality is needed among parents, schools, civil society and small businesses.
As far as the coffee shops are concerned, the committee is recommending to lock the door except for registered members. These "cannabis clubs" would cater only to local users. But it is hard to see how people from other EU countries could be legally banned from becoming members. Such a measure would have a discouraging effect for as long as it takes the EU court in Luxembourg to declare it illegal.
The committee is also recommending experimenting with legalised production of cannabis in order to decriminalise the supply chain of the coffee shops. It is not a new idea. But UN and EU rules only allow cannabis production for scientific or medicinal use, or in small quantities for personal use.
The Dutch government ordered a study in 2005 to look into the legal possibility of allowing small-scale cannabis production for the coffee shops. The answer was crystal clear: EU law doesn't allow for it. Solutions like these require a political consensus at the European level. It requires an answer to the question whether cannabis use for adults is socially acceptable. The questions is too large for the Netherlands to be able to answer it on its own.
You have to wear a jacket for entry....
That Carl Jung was a wiser man than I give him credence for.
What a mess indeed.
His 'Face to Face' interview on youtube is good.
As far as books go....'Modern Man in Search of a Soul' and 'The Undiscovered Self' are good to start with... ;)
The solution seems simple to me: Allow Adult users to grow a reasonable (?) amount for personal consumption & to share, & make illegal the sale/barter of ANY amount of smokable material. Seeds & immature plants could be sold commercially to users. Usage would be limited to the home, & to appropriate places, much as alcohol consumption in public is regulated.
The coffee shops will not be able to sell pot, of course, but they can still cater to the tokers with food, drink, music, etc., just as they do now. Plus, their business becomes completely legal.
Kids do NOT need to smoke pot or drink alcohol, PERIOD. They also do not need to be inhaling various household chemicals, raiding the prescriptions cabinet, or binging on OTC medications. That needs to be controlled primarily by the parents.
This idea takes the money out of pot, so the corruption is minimized. With the vast majority of users easily growing an essentially free product, the few remaining illegal growers & sellers will have to turn to smuggling to find a market. Drug tourism disappears - Amsterdam & the border towns are NOT gonna like that - too bad. It also decriminalizes the public & the coffee shops, & leaves the police to deal with much less criminality.
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