Netherlands: Drugs policy
01 September 1996
Dutch Minister of Justice, Mrs Winnie Sorgdrager, has said that Holland should not draw attention to itself when it comes to drug policies, since this only causes resistance. "It is useless talking to people who do not listen", she said at a meeting of the Netherlands Society for International Affairs on 9 September. "I got insane over the French reproaches, and also in the United States much nonsense about the Dutch drug policy is being spread. The noise from abroad about our drug policy is unjust, it is a sign of impotence. This is an immense and insolvable problem everywhere. President Chirac of France said to us for example that we had to close the coffee shops. I told him "sir, now you are going to far. We will never adapt our drug policy under international pressure"."
Meanwhile, the Minister who only two years ago announced a considerable liberalization of Dutch drug laws is now implementing new regulations that are much harsher than anything her conservative predecessors have ever tried. At first, the cabinet's intention was to drive out imported hashish (and thus organized crime) by allowing small harvests of homegrown marijuana, the so-called "Nederwiet". Soon after the announcement of these policy intentions, the "Sorgdrager package" for the small-scale cultivation of cannabis appeared in the windows of the growth shops that have bloomed around the country. Opposition to this plan grew when it was discovered that the larger drug importers were already shifting to growing and selling "Nederwiet", which because of its high quality has become increasingly profitable and is much less risky than smuggling through foreign countries with stiff penalties. Under the new situation with the stiff regulations, even the home grower nurturing a few plants on a balcony will face confiscation. The intention is to actively pursue every "plantation" that uses artificial lighting and watering, time clocks and similar high-tech equipment that according to the Minister indicates professional cultivation. The minister is also looking into a possible prohibition of hemp seeds, which will wipe out the growth shops catering to domestic growers and tourists.