|
Newsbrief:
Dutch
Government
Seeks
to
Ban
Cops
from
Enjoying
Coffee
Shops
9/12/03
The conservative Dutch government's
interior minister, Johan Remkes, is leading an effort to bar Dutch police
officers from enjoying the fare offered in the country's world famous marijuana
"coffee shops." The effort comes as Amsterdam police are reeling
over a highly publicized drug use scandal, but the police union remains
steadfast in opposing any move to keep the cops out of the shops.
In an interview with De Telegraaf
(Amsterdam), Remkes said the spectacle of pot-smoking police damaged the
force's respectable image and would lead to charges of hypocrisy when police
attempted to enforce other drug laws. "A police officer has an exemplary
role to fulfill and has to show some authority," Remkes said. "They
could be in a difficult position if they have to stop and search people
for drugs." Police officers would be banned from the coffee shops
whether on or off duty, Remkes added.
Remkes' effort comes in the
wake of a widely aired television documentary by investigative journalist
Peter de Vries. De Vries found police commanders popping ecstasy,
allegations of small-scale dealing among police officers, and stories of
doped up cops trashing vacation homes. De Vries' documentary led
to the firing of 12 Amsterdam police officers, two of whom claimed that
a quarter of the central Amsterdam police use hard drugs.
Remke and his VVD party want
to extend the coffee shop ban to other officials, including mayors and
government ministers, but first they have to get past the police.
And the Dutch police union is standing firm on the coffee shop issue.
"Visits to coffee shops are not forbidden, so it is strange that police
officers would be barred from going in their free time," a police union
spokesman told the Guardian (London).
-- END --
|
Issue #302, 9/12/03
Oops! -- "Killer
Ecstasy" Study Retracted, NIDA Credibility on the Line, RAVE Act Still
Law |
Marijuana
as Budget Saver? Study Looks at Implications of Legalization in Massachusetts |
Current Action
Alerts: Medical Marijuana, Plan Colombia, HEA, Ashcroft's Attack
on Judicial Discretion |
Perry Fund
Accepting Applications for 2003-2004 and 2004-2005 School Years, Providing
Scholarships for Students Losing Aid Because of Drug Convictions |
Newsbrief:
Human Rights Watch Calls California's Anti-Syringe Laws a Violation of
Human Rights, Details Police Harassment of Exchanges |
Arianna Huffington
Speaks at UC Berkeley SSDP-Volunteer-Organized Event |
Newsbrief:
Tommy Chong Sentenced to Nine Months on Bong Charges |
Newsbrief:
This Week's Corrupt Cops Story |
Newsbrief:
West Africa Drug War -- Business As Usual, Except for the Lizards |
Newsbrief:
Canadian Cities Federation Stays Firm in Support of Cannabis Decrim |
Newsbrief:
New Mexico Church Wins Ruling in Ayahuasca Case |
Newsbrief:
Pakistani Prison Officials Call for Different Treatment of Drug Offenders |
Newsbrief:
Dutch Government Seeks to Ban Cops from Enjoying Coffee Shops |
Newsbrief:
Connecticut Democrats to Propose Sentencing Reforms |
The Reformer's
Calendar
|
This issue -- main page
This issue -- single-file printer version
Drug War Chronicle -- main page
Chronicle archives
|
PERMISSION to reprint or
redistribute any or all of the contents of Drug War Chronicle (formerly The Week Online with DRCNet is hereby
granted. We ask that any use of these materials include proper credit and,
where appropriate, a link to one or more of our web sites. If your
publication customarily pays for publication, DRCNet requests checks
payable to the organization. If your publication does not pay for
materials, you are free to use the materials gratis. In all cases, we
request notification for our records, including physical copies where
material has appeared in print. Contact: StoptheDrugWar.org: the Drug Reform Coordination Network,
P.O. Box 18402, Washington, DC 20036, (202) 293-8340 (voice), (202)
293-8344 (fax), e-mail [email protected]. Thank
you.
Articles of a purely
educational nature in Drug War Chronicle appear courtesy of the DRCNet
Foundation, unless otherwise noted.
|
