Mr. Markle....your expertise is not in drug abuse, but your theories are interesting. The crackdown has caused more problems and in fact is leading to hard drug use.
Experts also question the Dutch policy change. August de Loor runs a bureau in Amsterdam that gives drug advice aimed at minimising health risks for users as well as testing party drugs such as ecstasy for purity.
He said coffee shops once played an important role not only in keeping cannabis users away from hard drugs like heroin, but also educating them about safely using pot and providing a meeting place for people who would rather smoke a joint than drink a beer.
'That special element of the Dutch model makes coffee shops unique in the world,' he said, 'and that is gradually fading away.'
Jo Smeets, a former coffee shop worker in Maastricht, complained that his neighborhood had been overrun by dealers since the city’s crackdown. The dealers, he says, sell drugs on the streets to people who previously would have bought in tightly controlled coffee shops: 'Now they can buy more and they can buy hard drugs from the same dealers.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2577265/Netherlands-marijuana-law-affecting-Maastricht-locals-complain-rise-street-dealers.html#ixzz3GYYZIjvg
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