Femke Halsema, Amsterdam Mayor, has called for regulation of the sale and use of cocaine to undermine the economics of criminal enterprises.
According to Halsema, drug trafficking enterprises generate “billions” in profits, while current policies to combat them have not produced tangible results.
Let us conclude 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.
Last year, Dutch customs authorities seized almost 60 metric tonnes of cocaine, 9 tonnes more than in 2022. The largest quantities were found in the ports of Rotterdam and Vlissingen. Turnover also increased at airports, according to a Dutch government report last week.
“Yesterday evening our minister of justice was asked about the conference and her answer was it’s not an issue. Well, I think today showed that it is an issue. It’s not soft versus tough on crime. It’s pragmatic and it’s the only way we can go.”
