|
Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
|
|
Netherlands: Dutch do U-turn on drugs
Irish Independent Monday 17 Oct 2011 Legally, possession of five grams per adult is the maximum allowed. Those growing it in their homes can have no more than five plants. In the last number of years the Dutch have been examining the use of cannabis, as concerns grew about drug tourism and the increasingly public use of the drug. As the concentration of tetrahydrocannabinical (THC), the main psychoactive substance in cannabis, increased over the years to a new national norm of 16-18pc, worries about mental health and crime associated with its sale rose. This led to the establishment of the Garretsen Commission, chaired by Professor Henk Garretsen, professor of healthcare policy at Tilburg University, into the current status of cannabis in Dutch society. He was a critic of Dutch policy on cannabis due to the impact on third parties such as those who are affected by drug-related nuisance and the effect on mental health. Last week the Commission's recommendations were accepted by the Dutch Parliament and the sale of cannabis with a concentration of THC greater than 15pc (known as skunk) will be illegal and it will be reclassified as a hard drug. Clubs Coffee shops will now function somewhat akin to gentlemen's clubs -- they will only be open to members and foreign tourists will be banned from buying substances there. But changes to the tolerance shown to cannabis was ebbing even before the establishment of the Garretsen Commission when the city of Maastricht passed a law in 2005 banning foreigners from entering these houses, a law that was later upheld by the European Court of Justice. In 2008 the Government passed a law specifying that coffee shops would no longer be allowed with a 250-metre radius of schools, resulting in the closure of more than 120 premises in Amsterdam alone. At present around 75pc of towns and villages have no coffee shops. The story in Britain was broadly similar although with a shorter trajectory. Spearheaded by the then editor of 'The Independent', Rosie Boycott, a rake of celebrities turned out in London in March 1998 to spread the message that cannabis should be decriminalised. These included Paul McCartney, the late Anita Roddick of the Body Shop and writers such as Martin Amis, Harold Pinter and Nick Hornby. Around that time the British Medical Association agreed that it had useful medicinal properties and under the weight of this pressure the government in 2004 decided to reclassify it and allow it for personal use. Apology By 2007 scientific evidence was emerging that cannabis was not as benign as had been thought and 'The Independent' reversed its position with the front page headline "Cannabis: An apology". In January 2009 cannabis was upgraded again to a class B drug in Britain. Those of us working at the coalface of psychiatry, in the emergency departments of our hospitals and in our out-patient clinics, are confronted by the terrifying consequences of cannabis use with frightening regularity. Psychosis, sometimes permanent, mood destabilisation and mental illness relapses are frequent and challenging. A raft of scientific studies have pointed to the dangers of cannabis in certain biologically vulnerable groups and especially when used regularly by teenagers. The journalist Patrick Cockburn and his son Henry have committed their tragic story to paper. In 'Henry's Demons' Patrick declared: "My son played Russian roulette with cannabis -- and lost." His son used cannabis regularly and subsequently developed schizophrenia. http://www.independent.ie/health/health-news/dutch-do-uturn-on-drugs-2907795.html
After you have finished reading this article you can click here to go back.
|
This page was created by the Cannabis Campaigners' Guide.
Feel free to link to this page!