FLEMISH MAYOR IN FAVOR OF COFFEE SHOP POLICY

The mayor of Zelzate, a small the Flemish town located near the Dutch border, stated that he hopes that coffee shop Miami in the nearby Dutch town Terneuzen will open again as soon as possible. After coffee shop Miami was also closed the illegal drugs trade appears in the streets of Zelzate again. It is especially French soft drugs tourists that now look for something to buy before the Dutch border.

The mayor of Zelzate is in favor of the tolerant Dutch soft drugs policy. To him it is quite hypocrite to plea for the reopening of Dutch coffee shops, since Belgium does not tolerate coffee shops at all. But it is clear that when the two coffee shops in Terneuzen where still open, Zelzate was relatively quiet. But since they were closed the mayor gets a lot of signals that the drugs sales in the streets are increasing again.

Coffee shop Check Point in Terneuzen, the largest coffee shop in the Netherlands, was closed in May this year, because the toleration rules for coffee shops where violated. At the end of September also coffee shop Miami was closed. The Public Prosecutor is still researching if rules have been violated. Apart from Zelzate in Belgium, also the local authorities in Terneuzen urge for reopening of the coffee shops, since drug tourists, drug runners and drug dealers are spotted in the center of town.

Although the Belgian support for the Dutch soft drugs policy sounds quite sensational, the mayor of Zelzate is pragmatic. 'If coffee shops are closed', he says, 'the illegal trade will increase, and with that also the annoyance and the health risks.' In the streets often inferior and adulterated products are sold, and that is the reason why the mayor of Zelzate is in favor of coffee shops. Coffee shops can be controlled and deliver quality products.

The Zelzate mayor is disappointed that the Belgian authorities do not have the courage to tolerate coffee shops. He stands up for a European solution: 'Only in that way the massive drug tourism can be contained. If there are different policies in Europe people will always try to profit. In the past also meat, butter and cigarettes were smuggled. Either we tolerate or we prohibit in Europe. I am in favor of toleration. If a French citizen can buy soft drugs in his own town, than the border towns are freed of the massive movement of drug tourists.' (volkskrant.nl)

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November 3, 2008