well this is one way to fill up the unused jail space, i think the dutch government should be confronted with the fact that they are complicit in the smuggling and sale of illegal contraband, hashish. when the coffeeshops are gone i will be sure to pick up some coke, crack and heroin from my house dealer along with some soft drugs. legalize weed and get it out from the dark. 29 billion euro in the red, and you want to kill a multi billion euro business. absolutley dumb, is this amerika or holland?

By mr. haze | April 1, 2010 9:55 AM

If its the Netherlands biggest cash crop behind only tomatoes and cucumbers then yeah lets clamp down on it and push it more underground and give it back to the criminals. What are they thinking about. In a year where we are all suffering because of the financial crisis and the government are talking about bringing in a big brother style road tax system and dropping mortgage relief. Why not legalise the marijuana trade and get the tax on the turnover between €2.5bn and €5bn a year. Or better yet, cancel the catholic churchs religious status due to law breaking (priests and bishops protecting paedophile priests) and make them pay tax for a year or 2 until the Dutch administration system has time to process through a new religious status claim for them. And if the Netherlands did this they would have plenty of new income to help ease the economy in this hard time. But would the caretaker Christian government ever do that. HaHaHaHaHaHa. We can but hope.

By langer | April 1, 2010 9:58 AM

No amount of money, police powers, weaponry, diminution of rights and liberties, wishful thinking or pseudo-science will make our streets safer; only an end to prohibition can do that. How much longer are you willing to foolishly risk your own survival by continuing to ignore the obvious, historically confirmed solution?

If you still support the kool aid mass suicide cult of prohibition, and erroneously believe that you can win a war without logic and practical solutions, then prepare yourself for even more death, corruption, terrorism, sickness, imprisonment, unemployment and the complete loss of the rule of law.

By malcolm kyle | April 1, 2010 10:12 AM

The minister is just a caretaker and neither he nor the cabinet can push any new or contentious legislation through without full parliamentary approval.

But since the election is just a couple of months away, nothing will come of this.

Ergo, no news, nothing to get worried about. Next!

By john | April 1, 2010 10:28 AM

Nearly three-quarters-of-a-century after it was made illegal; half-a-century after it was proven to be practically harmless - why is it still a crime to possess and smoke marijuana?

Here is a list of ten famous people who died as a result of nicotine abuse:

Humphrey Bogart
Edward R. Murrow
Nat King Cole
George Harrison
John Huston
Noel Coward
Betty Grable
Walt Disney
Gary Cooper
Peter Jennings

Here is another list. Ten famous people who died from alcoholism:

Billie Holiday
Jack Kerouac
Truman Capote
Lorenz Hart
Veronica Lake
Bix Beiderbecke
Montgomery Clift
Dylan Thomas
John Barrymore
Errol Flynn

Now I'm going to ask you to name for me one celebrity who has died from too much grass.

Go on, I'm waiting....

Couldn't do it, could you? Don't feel bad. Neither could I. Not only am I not aware of anyone ever dying in that manner, I am not aware of it happening in all recorded human history. If someone can come up with one example I'll shut up forever on the subject. Is it a "gateway drug" as they never tire of reminding us? An argument may be made that it is. But so is Pabst Blue Ribbon. Also, ciggies and booze have absolutely no medicinal value. Marijuana has. Think about it.

Do I advocate its use? I don't. I haven't smoked pot in over twenty years and have no intention to take up the habit again any time soon. But at the dawn of the second decade of the twenty-first century the question is screaming to be asked: Why are we still having this stupid conversation?

http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY

By Tom Degan | April 1, 2010 11:31 AM

just pass the legalization, tax the product and watch the crime go away. Just look at the USA and their "wise" decision to criminalize alcohol in the 1930's. Did not work, people died from crime and it is legal again?! The pharmaceutical industry does not want this for people would not need the anti-depressants, appetite increase for sick people and the plethora of other narcotics they get people hooked on. No one has ever OD'ed on pot!!

By Paul Martin | April 1, 2010 11:35 AM

I think, the ministers need to smoke at least a pot a day. If it doesn't make them smarter, it would delay them from making stupid decisions.

By George | April 1, 2010 11:49 AM

Well. Why doesn't the Dutch govenment just chillout, stop moaning, make marijuana legal, as people smoke it in Holland any way, instead of drafting up daft ideas that could potentially make Holland lose alot of money.
If the government decide to make marijuana illegal they can basically say goodbye to their tourist trade, because lets be honest here why do people come to Holland on holiday? Because they can smoke marijuana without the hassle of being prosecuted for it. Banning it is the most stupid idea they have ever come up with. MAKE IT LEGAL.

By James (UK Expat) | April 1, 2010 4:55 PM

The need for money in Holland can't be very urgent if you can afford to waste it, and time and energy and authority and credibility, like this.

By McD | April 1, 2010 6:38 PM

Although I live here and never use it myself, I think they really need to understand that only a very small proportion of tourists come here for the art galleries or other 'high culture' (no pun intended) exhibitions or shows. They come because they can smoke weed and watch nekkid laydeez at the same time.

These tourists might be tolerated rather than loved by the Amsterdam authorities, but a dutchman's purse usually has the last say in any decision making and I bet the moths are screaming loud right now.

By osita | April 1, 2010 8:17 PM

Well gee, I like to hear all the comments, and they are all correct. Yeah, I smoke Mary-Jane, but only in the evening to relax rather than the over-taxed, over-priced (Government controlled) addictive alcohol, that KILLS many people annually!

If you really want to know why there has been for far too many years a prohibition on the harmless enjoyable and medicinal plant "Marijuana", then you will have to think like a government, and not as a citizen...

The police: they love the fact that it is forbidden. You read in the paper that 15 kilos was seized? It was a lot more... The other 30K disappeared. The police have a low income, go figure!
(NO ADVANTAGE FOR LEGALIZATION FOR THE POLICE)

Big Pharma: Yep, no advantage there, nasty expensive drugs bring in more cash. The cash is heavily TAXED!
(NO ADVANTAGE FOR LEGALIZATION FOR BIG PHARMA)

If only people realized how easy it is to make for themselves, their own booze, well, it would end up like the coffee shops, stringent government control & Hippocratic nonsense.

If only weed didn't give off such a strong intoxicating fragrance, it would be such an advantage to the nursery owner!

It will never be allowed as it is slowly but surely falling into the hands of the notorious EU.

All the CCTV-cams, police, kilometer tax, privacy intrusion by the gov cost money. Total control is what this game is about!!!

Don't believe the lies, smoke a joint, relax and wake-up to the truth & reality...

By stevie | April 1, 2010 9:56 PM

I agree with everything you all have said here so far. It just makes economic, and health sense to me to legalize it. The way we do it here in the US is the most stupid thing I've ever seen. Millions of us are now criminals with records (including me) and for what? For BS, that's what. It's a money grab, but it's a stupid one. We should follow in the footsteps of the Dutch and make it at least semi-legal. You should stop messing around and just flat legalize it. Lead the world in "common sense". Someone needs to.

By Elaine, The Cat Lady | April 1, 2010 11:29 PM

Cannabis is according to many Dutch Drs now just an evil recreational drug of no medical use.

Some Dutch Drs, a minority, still say cannabis is a wonderful medicine.

Wait until you are refused medical care in the Netherlands, as I was today at a major Amsterdam Hospital, due to having a medical need for cannabis!!!

Before the Dr discovered my only medicine is cannabis she said to me, It's good you come to us now as you have caught this early!"

On discovering my only pain relief and only medicine she was walking backwards, red-faced and saying she had to consult with another surgeon and 20 minutes later she returned even redder-faced telling me that there is nothing wrong with me and I need to leave.

Seems it's not even wanted as a medicine in Holland!

By Gerard | April 2, 2010 12:15 AM

The lists of famous people, who died of nicotin and alcohol of Tom Degan are highly misleading. The numbers of alcohol drinking and sigaret smoking people do not compare with the tiny percentage of people consuming marihuana. Sure, alcohl dose a lot of damage to society, but it is too late to ban alcohol now. The anti sigaret smoking campaign was a good move. The promotion of marihuana to the general public is a bad move. I smoked sigarets for about ten years, because it was introduced to me at a vulnerable age. Thank heaven there was no marihuana around then.

By Frans | April 2, 2010 8:23 AM