Dutch move to ban sale of strong hashish cannabis

[wietlover]

Dutch move to ban sale of strong hashish cannabis

 

The Netherlands moved to ban the sale of potent hashish cannabis on Thursday, eroding 40 years of liberal drug policy, over fears that the proceeds were flowing to organised crime gangs.

A parliamentary proposal to prohibit the sale of hashish resin in the Netherlands' famous coffee shops had the backing of both parties in the Liberal-Christian Democrat coalition. The sale of marijuana, the dried bud and leaves of the cannabis plant, will not be affected.

 

"Almost all of the hash that is sold in Dutch coffee shops is smuggled into the Netherlands by international criminal gangs from countries like Afghanistan, Morocco and Lebanon," said Ard van der Steur, a member of the ruling Liberal Party.

 

The ban on 'hash', derived from the potent TCH crystals on marijuana buds, will likely be in force by the end of 2013 and possibly sooner if changes to the law are swiftly implemented, he said.

 

The Netherlands is one of the few countries in the world where marijuana and hash are sold openly, but moves to crackdown on its sale have risen under the conservative government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

 

Another of those backing a ban, Christian Democrat legislator Coskun Coruz, said he hoped the ban would reduce consumption.

 

Studies show marijuana use in the Netherlands is roughly half that of the United States, where it is illegal.

 

Hash smokers in Amsterdam doubted a ban would cut use of the drug and said it would be hard to enforce.

 

"I know enough people to buy hash from if it is banned from coffee shops. I'm sure I'm not going to smoke less," 19-year-old Tommie van den Wouden said as he waited in line to order hash at one coffee shop in Amsterdam.

 

Ulrich, who works at a coffee shop, said about 40 percent of revenue came from hash sales but coffee shops would not be the only losers.

 

"If I can't sell hash any more, my customers will buy it on the street. This will also lead to declining tax income for the state," he said.

 

"I am surprised about these politicians saying they want to ban hash because of links with organised crime, because exactly the same goes for marijuana. The only difference is that most hash comes from abroad, while marijuana is grown locally."

 

As part of the crackdown, the Netherlands has introduced compulsory membership cards for coffee shops in the south of the country to deter drug tourists from Belgium, France and Germany. The rules came into effect in January but will not be enforced until May.

 

The government hopes to implement the measure nationwide, a move which would effectively herald the end of the Netherlands' position as a pot smokers' paradise.

 

While the sale of marijuana and hash is tolerated in the Netherlands, cultivating commercial supplies is illegal, making it complicated for coffee shop owners to acquire stock. (Reporting by Tjibbe Hoekstra, Editing by Anthony Deutsch and Ben Harding)

 

Date: 01 March 2012

Source: Rueters

Copyright: Tjibbe Hoekstra

[El Gato]

Thats pretty sad man.

[Frank Reynolds]

I heard the coffeeshops were getting into the hash oils anyway, that would all be made in house

[wietlover]

Unfortunately Frankie i dont think it will matter..the dutch government prolly wont make a distinction between "imported hash" and "in house made hash"..i.e bubble hash.

And i doubt they will be able to sell oils if a hash ban is implemented..As one of the controls the Dutch government is trying to implement are THC levels..(all strains must be under 15% THC if they get their evil way!)

The worring factor here is that ALL sides of the political parties are starting to agree on this..WTF

 

wiet

[Frank Reynolds]

Ahh thats shit, thanks for explaining it wiet!

 

Will the govt be bringing it upon themselves to test these THC levels? if so that would be quite expensive!

[wietlover]

Ahh thats shit, thanks for explaining it wiet!

 

Will the govt be bringing it upon themselves to test these THC levels? if so that would be quite expensive!

 

Thats the main sticking point with the coffeshops.....levels can vary greatly, even with low THC strains..and testing will be costly..and who will the cost be passed on to?...the consumer prolly..and who will make lots of money from testing all this cannabis..prolly the government testing facility.....its a fookin conspiricy..pmsl

Also i meant to say in the last post..Having spent over 1/3 of my life in the netherlands i have never seen or heard of oils being sold or for sale in any coffeeshops in the netherlands!!!...It may be illegal to sell frankie??..i will do some research!!

[everest]

they will stop the sale of hash , but the hash wont stop coming ! you will just have to get from rotterdam in 9 oz bars ...

 

up de hash

[Frank Reynolds]

Oh wiet i say that only because i've seen a few vids of urangrower online and a few others, going over to the dam only recently past year or two. And yeh they have had some full melt oil for sale, think they were in barneys

[wietlover]

ok done the research....

Cannabis oil is illegal in The Netherlands due to ..a/ The process used to make it involves other chemicals and is dangerous.

b- sales are not tolerated as it is considered a "hard" drug because it is so concentrated.

 

Ya may have seen jelly hash frankie or cyrstal clear isolator hash(not even seen any of that since the early 2000's in amsters!!)

and Ev ya right if ya cant buy it the coffeeshops ya will be able to get it on the streets!!

 

edit..spelling doh

Edited March 3, 2012 by wietlover