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Coffeeshop no go zone for police officer.
Police officers are not allowed to buy softdrugs in coffeeshops in their off duty hours.
“These civil servants could namely be in a difficult situation if and when they have to act against a coffeeshop entrepreneur in their line of duty.”
This was stated by Minister Remkes (Home Affairs) yesterday, during an in-chamber debate about integrity amongst authorities. This should not only apply to police officers, but also for other public figures, like a Mayor and a Minister, because they actually are on duty for 24 hours, according to the VVD minister.
“A police officer a role model function and has to display authority”, says Remkes.
The Dutch Police Union (NPB) thinks these of the liberal Minister statements go way to far.
“Visiting a coffeeshop is not forbidden, it is being tolerated. Therefore it is strange if a coffeeshop would be off-limits for a police officer off duty, at such a moment”, according to a spokesperson of the NPB.
The Police Trade Organisation, ACP, has some understanding for Remkes stance, but they think that the coffeeshops should also be “forbidden for ordinary citizens”.
Source: De Telegraaf, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Pub. Date: September 4, 2003.
By: Parliamentary redaction.
Translation: Sinsemilla Guerrilla
The original article in Dutch...
This next item is added a day later
Haarlem, the Netherlands, September 5, 2003.
War On Coffeeshops about to begin!
Coffeeshop entrepreneurs consider legal action against Minister Remkes.
Remkes’ statements are in total contradiction with a previous statement about the issue of police officers and cannabis.
A few weeks ago, Amsterdam’s Police Chief, Head-Commissioner Jelle Kuiper, stated he thinks it is quite all right if his officers smoke a joint, as long as it is off duty and not in Police buildings. He stated this in an interview with the General Police Magazine.
“If something is legally allowed, I will not forbid it to my officers. If you are allowed to grow marihuana for your own consumption in Holland, I allow my officers to smoke it in their time off.” He is against the use of XTC, however, even for officers off duty.
I think Minister Remkes stance on this topic is politically incorrect all together, for discriminating coffeeshop entrepreneurs in the first place. Remkes more or less states that coffeeshop entrepreneurs WILL be in conflict with the police, soon. He is Justice Minister Donner will have declared his War On Coffeeshops, on Prinsjesdag, the Dutch State of the Union, on September 16. Minister Donner wants to close 400 of the 800 licensed Dutch coffeeshops, and then tell the few left not to sell to foreigners anymore, and to sell inferior weed, that should not exceed a THC percentage of 6%.
Before that happens, Remkes wants to pull his officers back from the future battle grounds, so they will not be accused of conflicts of interest, when a cannabis consuming police officer has to raid the coffeeshop he used to frequent as a customer.
Besides coffeeshops, police officers also visit bars, disco’s, clubs, gyms and other public places where the staff or owner might get in conflict with the Law, for whatever reason.
Remkes labels us, the 800 coffeeshop entrepreneurs, as criminals, by only prohibiting his police officers to visit our businesses, who are run by a bunch of criminals (to be), in Remkes’ vision.
We, my partners and me, feel discriminated and slandered by Minister Remkes, so we are currently checking the possibility to file charges against the Minister, for discriminating our profession and us, and for giving us a bad name in the press.
I have some advice for the cannabis consuming police officers : Start growing your own cannabis, but then again, they would have to go to a growshop, Minister Remkes might not consider those kosher for cops as well.
Sinsemilla Guerrilla
Cannabis entrepreneur since 1990.
www.hempcity.net
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