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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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NL: Cabinet rejects cannabis boulevard
Expatica.com
Wednesday 27 Apr 2005 AMSTERDAM =97 The Cabinet has reaffirmed its opposition to setting up a=20 cannabis boulevard in border regions where coffeeshops can be established=20 en masse, claiming it is undesirable in the campaign against drugs tourism. Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner and Democratic Reform Minister Alexander= =20 Pechtold made the announcement during an emergency debate about the=20 nation's soft drugs policy with MPs on Wednesday. Pechtold landed himself in hot water on Monday when he came out in favour=20 of cannabis boulevards, a plan proposed by Maastricht Mayor Gerd Leers to=20 combat inner city drugs problems. The Democrat D66 minister said it could be an interim solution, but his=20 remarks ran contrary to the coalition government accord. He is also an advocate of the= =20 European-wide legalisation of soft drugs. Minister Donner =97 who is doggedly waging a crackdown on coffeeshops and=20 drug problems =97 subsequently met with Pechtold on Tuesday and said after= =20 the meeting that the two ministers did not have a difference of opinion. The joint statement on Wednesday also said that legalising soft drugs in=20 the Netherlands is not an option. The ministers said if municipal councils want to move coffeeshops to city=20 limits, it is their responsibility to decide and arrange this. But both=20 Donner and Pechtold are opposed to "concentrated locations" of coffeeshops. The statement comes after reports that a majority of the mayors of the 30=20 largest Dutch cities support the legalisation of cannabis. Twenty of the 30 mayors =97 including the mayors of Amsterdam, Leeuwarden,= =20 Utrecht, Lelystad, Deventer and Tilburg =97 are in favour of legalising= cannabis. Four of the mayors backed a crackdown on illegal cannabis cultivation,=20 while six were unavailable or refused to comment, newspaper Trouw reported= =20 on Tuesday. Utrecht Mayor Annie Brouwer pointed to current fire risks, tension in=20 residential area and the illegal tapping of electricity as reason for=20 setting up a regulated cannabis industry. The current policy of tolerating the sale of cannabis but outlawing its=20 cultivation has led to criticism that the regulations are contradictory. A new survey by pollster Maurice de Hond found that 49 percent of Dutch=20 people support the legalisation of cannabis, while one-third would prefer=20 stricter laws. Some 63 percent are opposed to people cultivating cannabis=20 in their home.
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