05 December 2008
Amsterdam will fight national efforts to crack down on Marijuana cafes—arguing that the city's establishments are so strictly regulated that it is unnecessary to comply with a government ban on having them near schools.
Mayor Job Cohen's promise to lobby the Justice Ministry to give Amsterdam an exception came after city leaders overwhelmingly voted to challenge the issue. They argue the cafes are already so closely watched they don't need new rules to keep children away.
Cohen told national broadcaster NOS that "if there are other possibilities" to an outright ban, "then we'd like to look at them."
City aldermen want Amsterdam to relax a proposed ban on the cafes within 250 meters (yards) of schools. Cohen said he is waiting for more clarity from the government before deciding on his next step.
The challenge comes only days after a separate national ban on psychedelic mushrooms went into effect. Amsterdam also opposed that move and has so far declined to enforce it.
City spokesman Bas Bruijn said the city wasn't rebelling against the national government's decisions, but it was unrealistic to expect the community and local police to be ready to enforce the mushroom law without training and additional resources.
"It's illegal to drive 200 kilometers per hour too, but somebody has to enforce it," he said.
Marijuana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but it can be sold in small amounts
in designated cafes—euphemistically known as "coffee shops"—without fear of prosecution. More than a quarter of the country's cafes are in Amsterdam, where they are a major tourist attraction. Amsterdam and most major cities in the country want to expand the tolerance policy, rather than restrict it. They began lobbying last month to decriminalize growers, saying it would help keep organized crime out of the business.
The Dutch Parliament voted to regulate growers once before in 2005, but the government refused, saying it would amount to legalization and lead to a confrontation with the European Union.
Polls suggest most voters support decriminalizing marijuana cultivation, but the coalition government is led by the conservative Christian Democrats, who oppose it. Cohen's left-leaning Labor party is the most prominent advocate of a more liberal stance.
Christian Democrat Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin has said he has "no intention" of changing national marijuana policy, but he hinted he might be flexible on the school zone law.
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