drug-related political news from Germany and Europe

[Surak]

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)61423-2/abstract

German Parliament To Discuss Cannabis Legalization - Toke of the Town

CHANCELLOR MERKEL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS ON CANNABIS - Encod.org

CANNABIS SOCIAL CLUBS SURGE IN UNITED KINGDOM - Encod.org

http://www.undrugcontrol.info/en/weblog/item/3100-copenhagen-wants-controlled-cannabis-shops

Silenced NGO Partner - CND 2008 video No.1 (Sub: ENG, RUS, GER) - YouTube

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11660210

So much for now. If you find more articles and videos in English language concerning the situation in Germany and Europe, please post them here!

[Surak]

Non-co-operation is the quickest method of creating public opinion. (Mohandas K. Gandhi)

April 30, 2012

MAASTRICHT - The coffeeshops of Maastricht, united in the VOCM, will continue to refuse to cooperate with weedpass regulations. VOCM chairman Marc Josemans: "Too much is still unclear about privacy concerns, but also on the exact requirements of the Minister. Therefore we will not register customers and will continue to sell to anyone aged 18 and older who can verify their age and identity."

It is still unclear which persons and authorities are going to have access to the mandatory membership data of the coffeeshop that the weedpass regulations require. It is worrying that the minister of security and justice indicated on April 27 his intention to ignore critical observations made by the Council for Data Protection (CBP) published on April 18th.

The VOCM is a principal opponent of mandatory registration and permanent storage of personal data. At present, no clarification has been provided to neither the consumer nor the coffeeshop concerning the question who will be allowed to have access to these records on behalf of the authorities, and what may be done with the data.

Read more on this subject matter here:
http://www.encod.org/info/MAASTRICHT-COFFEESHOPS-WILL.html

[Eastside Growers]

Genesis 1:29

"And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food."

God made cannabis, man made beer - in God we trust!

[Surak]

Why the Government should take lessons from Peter Tosh – Telegraph Blogs

[Surak]

There will always be a market for Ganja in Holland; no matter where you come from:
http://www.encod.org/info/THE-RETURN-OF-THE-UNDERGROUND.html

[Surak]

Dutch Coffeeshop Belongs on World Heritage Site List

"World Heritage Sites are commonly understood to be culturally and/or natural important heritage that can be considered irreplaceable, unique and property of the entire world". Speaking is Dimitri Breeuwer of the Dutch Cannabis consumer association WeSmoke.

"This is why we can only conclude the unique Dutch coffeeshop, the very center of the cannabis legalization policies belongs on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list."

For decades, but especially in recent years, countries outside of The Netherlands are closely and openly looking at the legalization of cannabis as practiced in the Netherlands. Step by step the rest of Europe and the USA are following the footsteps of 'the Dutch model'. Meanwhile, in a surprising contrast, the country that leads the way is tearing down its own legalization policies.

Dutch Cannabis consumer association WeSmoke watches these changes in shock and horror. "All over the world a consensus has been achieved, that the Dutch legalization policies work better than criminalizing the soft drugs culture. Considering the very high social, political and public significance in practically all corners of the Western world of the phenomenon that is the Dutch coffeeshop, we feel this requires urgent protection.

We can't allow a temporarily changed political climate to destroy a unique type of business, which progressively and decently explores the path to the best possible cannabis policies."

Continue reading this article here: Dutch Coffeeshop Belongs On World Heritage Site List

[Surak]

27 April 2012
THE HAGUE - After the verdict of the court in The Hague in the courtcase against the Dutch State, Netherlands Union for Abolition of Cannabis prohibition concludes:

This verdict makes us bitter. The judge has accepted that discrimination against non-residents in Dutch coffeeshops is permitted as a measure to combat public nuisance and crime in the illegal cannabis circuit. The relationship between these issues has never been demonstrated.

Apart from the expectation that the introduction of the ’weedpass’ in the southern Netherlands on 1 May, will precisely lead to more nuisance and crime, the court has completely ignored the fact that the current regulation for coffeeshops (defined in the so-called AHOJG- criteria) already provides sufficiently for measures to diminish public nuisance, cannabis related crime is the result of the ban on the cultivation of this plant.

Moreover, the ’weedpass’ violates Article 1 of the Dutch Constitution, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of origin. Last year, the State Council concluded that this measure would be permitted in the city of Maastricht, but only if there exists serious disturbance of public order, which can no longer be countered by other, less serious measures. Even in Maastricht, one of the cities with many foreign coffeeshop visitors, neither of these two conditions are fulfilled.

What does exist is public nuisance and crime caused by the illegal cannabis circuit. The real solution to this problem starts with the regulation of the backdoor of the coffeeshop. In the past drugs debate in the Dutch parliament, five parties (PvdA, D66, Green Left, SP and PvdD) proposed steps in this direction, such as those that are currently taking place in other countries.

The VOC will continue to oppose the weedpass and awaits with confidence the decision of the court of appeal. We also put our hope on the court that will deal with the trial processes that will now be carried out against those coffee shops who refuse to treat non-residents differently as residents. In the near future they will symbolize the opposition to a government-imposed obligation to discriminate.


found at ENCOD.ORG