U.S. pressures Netherland's on pot!

[2diagnosis]

But the Dutch coffee shop system is under threat. According to one of the country's leading drug specialists and a government adviser, cannabis coffee shops and café-bars will be extinct within five years. http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=616967
The clampdown is being blamed on a more conservative attitude by the coalition government and local mayors, and pressure from other European Union members who disapprove of the Dutch approach.....
This shift in attitude was acknowledged by the United Nations earlier this week. The annual report by the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), which is part of the UN, noted that the Netherlands' government had informed them of a "crucial and significant change in its policy on cannabis". It said that the Dutch government has promised to take tougher action against drug tourists, street dealing, cannabis growing, and the coffee shops. The report stated: "The government notes that coffee shops may discredit the drug policy of the country in general."....

August de Loor, an independent consultant who advises the Dutch government on drug policy, said: "The changes have been brought about by the influence of the Yankees , Brussels and the EU. The Dutch approach is usually very pragmatic.

[MrOctober]

1. Dutch have the right idea here

Is prostitution decriminalized as well?

It should be.

[Trillo]

2. There was a post on DU that connected coffee and acrilymide.

Stupid governments. Stop the insanity. Tax marijuana and be done with it.

Or, to take the opposite tactic, make alcohol illegal, and watch people brew their own then distill.

[RagingInMiami]

3. Their tourism economy will take a huge hit if that happens

no pun intended

[neweurope]

4. Sometimes I wonder if they're so afraid of pot because they're really

afraid of hemp - the plant with the greatest bio mass, useful in all kinds of things. With hemp you can make a lot of things that otherwise oil is used for...

-------------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[firefox]

5. More propaganda

First let me thank you for putting this up. The Netherlands is made up of what used to be many little kingdoms, with the Dutch being one of the old kingdoms. But anyway, coffee shops are a local affair and the federal government does not have authority to close them. The coffee shops system is 30 years old and separating laughing grass from the pushers of addictive drugs was the smartest thing they could have done. That is what all countries should do in pursuit of harm reduction strategies.

It is kind of like Congress saying that they will allow drug importation if the FDA allows it, knowing that drug importation is not going to happen. In this case they have a puppet state something so they can announce it to the world like it is true. It is all about projecting a false reality.

Prohibition is a world wide phenomenon advanced by the United States and incorporated into UN treaties with the strong arm of the United States. INCB might as well be the international arm of the ONDCP, Office of National Drug Control Policy. HempCity is a website supported by Nol van Schaik who owns three coffeeshops in Harleem. The situation of a new government is explained on February 27, 2003 here- http://www.hempcity.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=70

The Prime Minister is highly unpopular and in two years his sorry butt is sure to go. There is no secret that the US would love to war on cannabis all across the world, even if it has to highjack the UN. UN policy says that in the four years left on the ten year plan, all the illegal drugs on the planet will be wiped out. Now, how is that for delusional? What we have is the federal Dutch government towing the US line, while the locales have the say so.

I put this up at hempcity.com. I ask him to respond, but at this point he is probably bored of addressing the nonsense of the media. Here is that thread- http://www.hempcity.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604

Here is the section on the Netherlands at HempCity- http://www.hempcity.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=7 You can see that this is kind of talk is nothing new.

Cannabis policy in Europe has changed rapidly in the last four years. Spain is probably the most cannabis friendly country in the world. When the World Cup was in Spain, they told the English, to put down the pint and take up the pot and not be so rowdy. You can see pictures of Nol growing all kinds of plants on his vacation in Spain here- http://tinyurl.com/6zfme and http://tinyurl.com/3kr4l

Portugal will not arrest people for hard drugs, much less laughing grass. I have read accounts of burnt cannabis being in the air everywhere in Switzerland and people grow it on their balconies. The Senate voted 25-0 several years ago for legalization, but pressure blocked it in the other house. It is all but legal and you can buy it in the open market.

Germany depends on your location and it most places small amounts are legal. Berlin has a financial crisis and part of it has to do with reduced tourism and it was expected that they were going to announce Free Cannabis. Political pressure has stopped this important development, but unless you flaunt before a policeman, nothing is going to happen to you.

In Morocco, thirty percent of the people use cannabis. In South Africa they smoke it on the factory floor of the largest automotive plant in the southern hemisphere. Colombia, Venezuela, and Brazil have made possession of small amounts legal and harm reduction has a loud voice in Latin America. You usually hear the term defacto legal for Mexico, although they sometimes get a small mountain of laughing grass to burn and take propaganda pictures.

Cannabis is not going anywhere but legal no matter what the propaganda paints as reality. Of course the enslaving powers will not yield quietly, but the Powers that be are outnumbered 99 to 1. In 100 years the alcohol culture of today will be replaced by a cannabis culture where music and partying takes on a whole new dimension.

[Enquiringkitty]

7. After I pick out one of those country's to go to ,I'm packing my bags.

We started this country after everybody else was well established and we've been behind ever since. We use force and economic pressure to make everybody in EU to slow down or stop. We are so far behind in knowing how our people want to live. EU has just had a longer time to practice.

When the people of France took over and chopped heads, the new government said, "Hmmmm, maybe we should keep in touch with what they want huh?" Other countries have had first hand experience with what happens when they let the government just do what it wants and still others have controlled their governments by just sitting down and refusing to work for a week or so. Just think what would happen if everybody just didn't show up for work Monday or the rest of the week. The country would come to a screeching halt.

[izzie]

6. What is it with this country? How come we think we can tell ====

the world how to live? It is just crazy and half of our people think it is OK and we are right in doing it. Course in a way it is funny because as you watch the world they are doing as the like and no one is really hearing a thing we say.It is like the world is just saying 'just do as you like it is only Bush and Co. doing their thing.'That Fr. said they will give us One Man who will stay in Eur. to help us out is just to funny for words.