The mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, has expressed her stance on drugs, arguing that the "war on drugs" has as much negative impact as the drugs themselves. She advocated that the sale and use of cocaine and other drugs should not be considered criminal offenses, calling the fight against drugs "perverse and counterproductive."
In her interview with the newspaper Financieele Dagblad, the mayor of Amsterdam emphasized the need to regulate drug markets in order to change the income model of "unscrupulous criminals". It applies a regulatory concept already successfully implemented in the Dutch government's pilot project to grow cannabis that is legally supplied to coffee shops.
The mayor indicated that approximately 80% of police resources are spent on drug enforcement, and these efforts have not led to changes in the market. She has joined a group of academics and policymakers who believe the "war on drugs" is as destructive as the drugs themselves.
It is worth noting that the Netherlands already decriminalized the use of marijuana in the 1970s. The country does not punish the consumption and sale of a small amount of marijuana, but growing it for commercial purposes remains prohibited.
