In one of the funniest stories that has come out of the Netherlands recently, the government is planning to control the liberal marijuana laws of the country by restricting its open use in cafes to Dutch residents only, thus effectively turning the coffee shops in question into private clubs with a membership of around 2,000 each.
A judge in the Hague district court has ruled that the government's proposal is entirely legal though an appeal is being planned by the owners of the coffee shops.
Without going into the rights and wrongs of the case, I have a question or two: will the European Commission take the Dutch government to the ECJ for introducing legislation that legally discriminates against EU citizens of other member states (or, indeed, residents of other member states) and will the ECHR rule on the subject, with regards to the rights to family existence by people who are not resident in the Netherlands but whose relatives are and who want to smoke cannabis together?
I'm afraid that they'll go for the "harmonization" card here Helen.
ReplyDeleteIt'll end in either nobody being able to indulge or a tax of some sort on all.
I think we should kick this into the long grass (alright - I'm going)
Hi Helen,
ReplyDeletealthough decriminalised smoking dope is still illegal and I can't see the EJC backing peoples right to break the law
This will end up with nobody happy
Andrew