Have the Netherlands gone backwards on cannabis, as Charles de Courson claims? – Liberation

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Cannabis for all? fileAfter the introduction of rules which led to a drop in the number of coffee shops, the Netherlands has been testing, since December 2023, an experiment in legal production.

Invited on October 29 on Sud Radio, the deputy of the Libertés, Indépendants, Outre-mer et Territoires group, Charles de Courson, affirmed his opposition to the legalization of cannabis: “We have to hold on. That would give a horrible image. There are always those who say: “let’s liberalize the system, it will bring down the price of cannabis”. Well, there was a full-scale experiment carried out by our colleagues in the Netherlands. Yes, they contaminated Germany, Belgium, France. At my house, all the guys went there to get their supplies. And the result today is that they have completely changed their approach by saying “we must fight”.”

We must stand firm on the decriminalization of cannabis. I am totally against this idea which has wreaked havoc in the Netherlands.
They are in the process of backtracking because they have seen the damage this has caused. pic.twitter.com/GK1ArO9VV8

— Charles de Courson (@C_deCourson) October 29, 2024

Contrary to popular belief, the consumption of cannabis is not legal in the Netherlands. As the Dutch government notes on its website, “The possession, sale and production of drugs are prohibited by law. However, the Netherlands practices a policy of tolerance towards soft drugs. This means that the sale of small quantities of soft drugs in coffee shops [magasins où est vendu du cannabis, ndlr] is a criminal offense, but the public prosecutor does not prosecute coffee shops for this offense.” The Dutch state therefore tolerates the existence of coffee shops, which obtain cannabis illegally, but for which the authorities tolerate the controlled sale of this drug.

It is nevertheless true that the country has operated, in recent years,