Netherlands - President Of Dutch Police Association Proposes To Legalise

[Encod]

Dear friends,

A leading policeman in the Netherlands is resigning and see: he proposes to legalise.......

best wishes,

Joep

Source: ANP, 23 April 2008

Woerden, 23 april. The cultivation of cannabis should become legal in the Netherlands. At the same time the government should organise the controlled distribution of hard drugs to addicts.

Only under these circumstances can the police make a serious effort to fight drug criminals.

These are the words of the retiring president of the large police association NPB (Nederlandse Politie Bond <http://www.politiebond.nl/>), Hans van Duijn, in an interview that is published today in a number of Dutch newspapers. According to him, the fight against drug related crime has had little result, but represents a heavy burden on police resources. Due to the many hours that police officers invest in the fight against drugs, other forms of criminality recieve too little attention, says Van Duijn.

In the end of May, Van Duijn (60) will resign as president of the NPB .

http://www.encod.org/info/NL-VOORZIT...ND-BEPLEI.html

[Lunar Loops]

Is there any chance of a translation of any of these articles? This does appear to be a growing trend of police officers (sadly mostly ex-officers) stating that they feel the war on drugs has failed and will continue to fail unless we take a radically different approach.

Was he not also the same guy that spoke up for the rights of Amsterdam officers to smoke cannabis whilst off-duty (a new ruling prohibiting them from doing so was brought in in January of this year I believe)?

[rocksmokinmachine]

Originally Posted by Lunar Loops

Is there any chance of a translation of any of these articles? This does appear to be a growing trend of police officers (sadly mostly ex-officers) stating that they feel the war on drugs has failed and will continue to fail unless we take a radically different approach.

Was he not also the same guy that spoke up for the rights of Amsterdam officers to smoke cannabis whilst off-duty (a new ruling prohibiting them from doing so was brought in in January of this year I believe)?

Indeed there are officers that speak up over cannabis laws, and thier have been high ranking officers saying so in the past, the sad fact is police are only there to enforce exisiting laws, not make them. Over the last few years there has been a tightening of the law because of the new Christian Democrat government. It would be nice to see cannabis actually ammended in the Opium Act, but with the current closing of coffeeshops near schools (like what happened to many of Rotterdam's shops) and the banning of psilocybin mushroooms I think it will be sliding in the other direction.

[Encod]

Originally Posted by Lunar Loops

Is there any chance of a translation of any of these articles? This does appear to be a growing trend of police officers (sadly mostly ex-officers) stating that they feel the war on drugs has failed and will continue to fail unless we take a radically different approach.

Was he not also the same guy that spoke up for the rights of Amsterdam officers to smoke cannabis whilst off-duty (a new ruling prohibiting them from doing so was brought in in January of this year I believe)?

Hi there,

I don't know if there are more articles devoted to this online yet, the only one I found I translated into english.

Anyway Van Duijn was quoted indeed for defending officers' right to smoke, (congratulations with your memory), see http://www.encod.org/info/DUTCH-POLI...AIM-RIGHT.html

best wishes

Joep

[Alfa]

Originally Posted by Lunar Loops

Was he not also the same guy that spoke up for the rights of Amsterdam officers to smoke cannabis whilst off-duty (a new ruling prohibiting them from doing so was brought in in January of this year I believe)?

Thats correct.

[Encod]

Now also there is news from the Dutch city of Terneuzen (60.000 inhabitants, close to the Belgian border)

Terneuzen wants experiment with legal cannabis cultivation

Source: PZC http://www.pzc.nl/

23 april 2008

Terneuzen - Substitute lord mayor of Terneuzen, Co van Schaik, believes that his city should start an experiment with legal cannabis cultivation.

With the experiment, Terneuzen can become an example for other municipalities in the Netherlands that likewise struggle with the current "lenient policy" towards softdrugs. Van Schaik reacts on the the declarations of resigning president Hans van Duijn of the police trade union NPB, who has proposed to completely legalise cannabis cultivation. According to Van Duijn the police can not win the fight against drug criminals. Legalising the cultivation of cannabis and organising the medical distribution of hard drugs to addicts would increase policie capacity to focus on other forms of criminality, according to Van Duijn.

Van Schaik considers the experiment in Terneuzen as a intermediary step towards full legalisation of cannabis cultivation.

[Heretic.Ape.]

[top] Dutch police union chair:legalise cannabis

Published: Wednesday 23 April 2008 08:32 UTC
Last updated: Wednesday 23 April 2008 12:59 UTC

Amsterdam - The chairman of the Dutch police union NPB Hans van Duijn says it is pointless to fight against the supply of cannabis. He thinks it only leads to more crime and he would much rather see soft drugs legalised in The Netherlands. Further, Hans van Duijn is in favour of letting long time addicts use hard drugs under supervision. In his opinion this is the only way to effectively fight drug related crime.

Drug crimes take up a great deal of the police's time and energy and other crime issues suffer from it, says the retiring NPB chairman. He thinks most senior police officers feel the same way.
According to Hans van Duijn, Dutch politicians are reluctant to look at the possibilities of legalising soft drugs. Under international pressure they prefer to put their heads in the sand, says Mr Van Duijn.

http://www.radionetherlands.nl/news/...abis-legalised