The mellow atmosphere of a coffee shop in Maastricht hides a harsher
reality: because of the presence of drug runners, the city tries to relocate
some of its cannabis-selling outlets to the city limits, angering it's rural
neighbours.
MAASTRICHT, NETHERLANDS (APRIL 14, 2008) REUTERS -
Sitting among the mellow smokers in a coffeeshop in Maastricht, it
is easy to forget that a plan to relocate half of the cannabis-selling outlets
to the city limits has aroused such fury.
The southern Dutch city has been trying for five years to push seven
out of fourteen shops to three new "coffee corners" at its northern,
western and southern borders.
The marijuana equivalent of out-of-town shopping malls would serve the
1.5 to 2 million people who pour into the city each year in search of a
puff.
Proponents and critics of the plan generally agree that the coffee
shops and the overwhelming majority of their customers who come for a joint or
a small bag of hash are not the problem.
The trouble comes from the criminals they attract, notably about 500
"drug runners" on the streets peddling substances such as cocaine,
ecstasy or heroin.
Maastricht argues that it is difficult to stamp drug crime out in the
tight central streets and that at more isolated sites outside the city,
policing would be easier and the dealers could not come into contact with
coffeeshop customers.
Marc Josemans (pronounce Yosemans), chairman of the Maastricht
Coffeeshop Association (VOCM), is in favour of the plan. He says relocating
the coffee shops to the city outskirts should prevent the drug runners from
intercepting the customers heading for legal coffee shops.
''Unfortunately, we have seen a disturbing phenomena over the last five
years, the drug runners, the ones who sell drugs illegally on the street,
approaching our customers between the parkings and the coffee shops, offering
them soft drugs as well as hard drugs. It is a dangerous situation. Those
people are usually aggressive, they are not easy to deal with, and to fight
against them we needed a new initiative: to displace half of the coffee shops
on the outskirts of the city where people could park just at the entrance of
the coffee shops to prevent the drug runners from intercepting our clients,''
Josemans said.
Neighbouring Belgian districts have been enraged by the prospect of
coffee shops on their doorsteps.
The Belgium district of Voeren (pronounce Vooren), is located 15
kilometres (9.3 miles) South of Maastricht. About 4,500 inhabitants live in
the six villages forming the district for six churches and one secondary
school.
Despite its quiet appearances, Voeren has the highest level of crime of
any countryside district in Belgium and ranks seventh in term of criminality
after the country's main cities, including reckless driving, thefts or
burglaries.
Huub Broers (pronounce Hub Broors), the mayor of Voeren, said seventy
to ninety percent of the crimes are linked to the drug problem.
Broers has been campaigning against the relocalisation of the coffee
shops as he fears their proximity will bring even more crimes in the
villages.
''There will be even more criminality. Because those who surrounds the
coffee shops in the city centre will move with the coffee shops, so we will
face a surplus of criminality. And that's what we are afraid of,'' Broers
said.
Voeren residents are equally reluctant to the possibility of having
those new neighbours.
''The solution should be a general ban on the sale of soft drugs, but
you need an international approach and some political courage to implement
this in the three countries, Germany, Netherlands and Belgium,'' Jose Tossens
(pronounce Tossenss), a teacher, said sitting in the cafe opposite Voeren
church.
Last month, Voeren and neighbouring districts forced Maastricht to back
down after winning a legal challenge.
The Dutch city has now put forward a watered down proposal to place two
coffee shops in a single "coffee corner" at it's southern edge for a
trial period of three years.
But it's neighbours are still not happy.
About 80 percent of the Maastricht's coffee shops customers are
foreign, of which about 60 percent from Belgium and 20 percent each from
France and Germany. In the coffee shops of VOCM, leaflets can be found in
French, German, Dutch and English.
Belgium argues the Netherlands is exporting its soft drugs policy and
the problems that come with it.
Back in Maastricht, Josemans calls those claims hypocritical.
''I think the attitude of Belgium and France is hypocritical. They are
actually the ones exporting their drug problems to the Netherlands. We are not
exporting it, they are. We in the Netherlands are taking our
responsibilities,'' Josemans said.
But there are some contradictions on the Dutch side too: while selling
cannabis is legal, buying it or growing it is still outlawed.
Josemans says studies showing that the Netherlands have fewer cannabis
users than the European average and a particularly low level among young
people are a sign of the success of the Dutch stance.
Still the Dutch have cracked down on coffee shops of which there are
now around 700, compared with around 1,200 in 1997. In Maastricht, all
customers must prove they are at least 18 years old as they entered and there
are plans to bring in finger scanners to ensure no one buys more than 5 grams
per day.
In Belgium, the rules have softened. Possession of up to 3 grams (0.1
ounces) of cannabis - or a single plant - is not prosecuted, but it is
illegal to sell resin, plants or seeds. Police can still confiscate small
bags.
Josemans said there is a trend across Europe showing a lesser degree of
tolerance.
''The European citizen is becoming less and less tolerant, towards
foreigners, towards people with a different opinions, another sexual
orientation, those who like a joint or even those sniffing coke in a
recreative way. But we can maintain the current system. If you control it
tightly, if you set up limits and the authorities manage the right level of
control, then our system can be maintained. But the threshold of tolerance is
lowering,'' Josemans said.
In Maastricht, the fourteen coffee shops employ 265 people and their
customers spend approximately 30 million Euros as they visit the town. Because
it's an illegal product, the coffee shops' owners don't pay any VAT, but they
are liable to profit tax.
