Coffee Shop Trial a Test for Dutch Drug Policies
In our ongoing movement of marijuana policy here in the US, we are often tempted to take any change in law no matter how small. Often those changes leave the more stickier issues of production and distribution for resolution at a later date. This is what has happened for many years in the Netherlands. Often described as the Dutch Paradox, you can purchase up to 5g and walk right out of a coffee shop, but there is no lawful way for the proprietor of the coffee shop to obtain the cannabis in the first place.
If Meddy Willemsen, the owner of the mega coffee shop Checkpoint in the city of Terneuzen, is convicted of encouraging illegal cannabis cultivation and running an organized supply chain, it could allow prosecutors to convict other coffee shop owners and workers on charges that are usually used against gangs and organized crime networks.
André Becker, the lawyer representing Checkpoint, says that regardless of the verdict, his client’s trial will set a national precedent. “If the court accepts the prosecutor’s reasoning, it would have great consequences,” Beckers says.
It seems that the state of the cannabis laws in the Netherlands is in flux, with Christian Democrats looking to ban it outright and mayors of other municipalities actively encouraging the opening of coffee shops in their towns.
A judge struck down an attempt by the city of Maastricht to restrict drug purchases to Dutch nationals. The towns of Bergen op Zoom and Roosendaal have shut down all eight of their coffee shops to keep away rowdy visitors.
Other cities are hoping to avoid prohibition. Indeed, the municipality of Eindhoven is encouraging the opening of more coffee shops in order to prevent the arrival of mega-coffee shops like Checkpoint.
We should never forget that neo-prohibitionists will actively search for any loophole to claw back any reform we seek. By allowing the distribution and production to remain illegal or in a state of legal limbo, we will always be vulnerable to having all we work for undone.
