Amsterdam is unique even within the Netherlands in terms of its drug culture, and in recent years , the illegal drug trade has become more lucrative, more professional, and more violent. The consequences are disastrous, and although Dutch authorities have stepped up their efforts to combat drug trafficking, they have failed to turn the tide.
In a recent interview with AFP , Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema said that the only way to combat the terrible consequences of hard drugs is to regulate them. “You could imagine getting cocaine at the pharmacy or through a medical system,” she added to the news agency . Could this be the solution to this increasingly alarming problem?
Regulating hard drugs to reduce their use and combat crime
Mayor Femke Halsema is not only the first woman to hold this position on a permanent basis, but she is also Amsterdam’s first mayor from the Green Party. She has always focused her efforts on various aspects of city governance, including urban development, sustainability, and social cohesion. Halsema, who studied criminology, is also known for her fight against overtourism (especially party and drug-related tourism) and organized crime.
But despite this “war on drugs,” crime continues to run rampant in Amsterdam. It is, in fact, a multi-billion-euro underworld that consumes 80 percent of the police’s time. This alarming reality led the mayor to propose regulating the sale and use of cocaine, in order to undermine the economic profits of criminal organizations. In addition to this regulation of cocaine use, Halsema also spoke of a market for other hard drugs such as ecstasy.
The mayor is well aware that her position is controversial. However, she concluded “that hundreds of years of deterrence and repression have yielded little.” “Apparently, people have a need for stimulants. There is a market for that, ” Halsema said recently in another interview with the Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad.
The drug problem in the Netherlands goes beyond just the economy. It is also a matter of life and death, Halsema noted, recalling the three murders linked to the trial of drug lord Ridouan Taghi, which shocked the country a few months ago.
Cocaine seizures also rose last year. Dutch authorities seized nearly 60,000 kg, a sharp increase compared to 2022. The largest quantities were found in the ports of Rotterdam and Vlissingen, but trafficking also increased at airports, the Dutch government announced in January.
