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Newsbrief:
Dutch
Do
De
Facto
Decriminalization
for
Small-Time
Cocaine
Smugglers
2/6/04
The Dutch government has
quietly quit prosecuting people it catches smuggling cocaine into Amsterdam's
Schipol Airport, the Times of London reported Wednesday. Last year,
Dutch customs officers arrested 2,176 smugglers flying in on "cocaine flights"
from the Caribbean, an average of more than five every day. Now it
says that prosecuting them is a waste of resources.
"Locking up thousands of
smugglers doesn't solve the problem. There will always be more of
them," Dutch justice ministry spokesman Ivo Hommes told the venerable newspaper.
"We've been honest enough to admit that we only manage to stop 15% of the
drugs coming in, so we are trying something new."
While Hommes characterized
the move as innovative policy, a justice ministry memorandum obtained by
the Times suggested the Dutch made the move because prosecutors were overburdened
by the ceaseless flow of Caribbean mules. Arresting them should not
be permitted to "block the justice system," the memo said.
The policy may soon be extended
to other hard drugs, Hommes said.
There those Dutch go again.
First the coffee shops, now this. So damnably pragmatic.
-- END --
|
Issue #323, 2/6/04
Drug War Kills More Than a Cop a Month |
HEA Struggle Enters New Year as Bush Budget Pushes Souder Reform |
Mothers to Mothers: New York Drug Reform Activists Visit Argentina |
Marijuana Rx for Methamphetamine? Hawaii May Give It a Try |
Offer and Appeal: New StoptheDrugWar.org Ink Stamps and Strobe Lights -- DRCNet Needs Your Support in 2004 |
Newsbrief: San Francisco Releases Proposition S Report, Gives Okay to Possible City-Supported Medical Marijuana Co-ops |
Newsbrief: Update -- Colorado Confrontation on Hold Pending Federal Court Ruling |
Newsbrief: Lane County Won't Be Sensible -- Group Ends Marijuana Amendment Effort |
Newsbrief: Florida Pain Doctor Sees Murder Charge Dropped |
Newsbrief: Dutch Do De Facto Decriminalization for Small-Time Cocaine Smugglers |
Newsbrief: The Continuing Revolt of the Black Robes, Part I |
Newsbrief: The Continuing Revolt of the Black Robes, Part II |
Newsbrief: This Week's Corrupt Cops Story |
This Week in History |
DRCNet Temporarily Suspending Our Web-Based Write-to-Congress Service Due to Funding Shortfalls -- Your Help Can Bring It Back -- Keep Contacting Congress in the Meantime |
The Reformer's Calendar
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