Amsterdam is unique even in the Netherlands in terms of its drug culture and in the last few years, the illegal drugs trade has become more lucrative, professional and violent. The effects have been disastrous and even if the Dutch authorities have increased their efforts to combat narco-trafficking, they have not been able to turn the tide.
In a recent interview with AFP, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema said that the only way to defeat the dreadful effects of hard drugs is to regulate them. “You could imagine getting cocaine at pharmacies or via a medical system”, she added to the news agency. Could this be the solution for this increasingly worrying issue?
Regulate Hard Drugs To Reduce Their Use And Undermine Crime
Mayor Femke Halsema is not only the first woman to hold this position on a non-interim basis, but she is also Amsterdam’s first Green party mayor. She has always focused her efforts on various aspects of city governance, including urban development, sustainability, and social cohesion. Halsema, who studied criminology at university, is also well known for fighting overtourism (especially party and drug-related tourism) and organized crime.
However, despite this “war on drugs”, crime continues to thrive in Amsterdam. It’s even a multi-billion-euro underworld that takes up 80 percent of the city’s police time. This worrying reality made the mayor suggest the regulation of the sale and use of cocaine to undermine the economic profits of criminal enterprises. Parallel to this regulation of cocaine use, Halsema also talked about a market for other hard drugs like ecstasy.
The mayor is very aware that her position is controversial. However, she concluded “that hundreds of years of discouragement and repression have achieved very little.” “Apparently people have a need for stimulants. There is a market for that”, Halsema told the Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad in another recent interview.
The issue with drugs in the Netherlands goes beyond economy. It is also a matter of life and death, noted Halsema, recalling the three murders linked to the trial of drug baron 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. They found the largest quantities in the ports of Rotterdam and Vlissingenm, but trafficking also increased at airports, revealed the Dutch government in january.