Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen:

Time Magazine named Amasteram Mayor Job Cohen as one of the

'European Heroes of 2005'.

 

From Saturday radio show "Tros Kamerbreed" on 12 Jan 2008:

 

Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen:

The Netherlands Must Spearhead an International Debate to Totally

Legalize Cannabis

 

...Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen (Workers Party/PvdA) went on about the

Dutch Tolerance Policy whereby so-called Coffee Shops are allowed

to sell small amounts of cannabis, but cultivation is illegal...

 

According to the Mayor, the current policy of tolerance doesn't

work.  The Mayor finds that The Netherlands must spearhead an

International Debate supporting the standpoint that Cannabis must

be totally legalized. "America forbidding alcohol didn't help

either", added the Mayor.

 

Mayor Cohen goes on to criticize the political party CDA, presently

the largest party in The Netherlands and the party of Prime

Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende.  The Mayor accuses the CDA of

behaving in the "Dutch East Indies Corporate Mentality", a phrase

referring to the World's First Corporation.

 

He also accuses CDA of failing to streamline overly-complex

processes which hinder progress.  According to the Mayor, with

large projects such as Amsterdam's awesome new $2.6 Billion

North/South Subway Line, authorities report that there are far too

many departments, municipalities, and commissions, all of which

have approval authority.

 

The CDA doesn't do enough to streamline this.  According to Mayor

Cohen, many things can can get done with fewer different

organizations.  As an example, he points out that in Amsterdam,

fourteen government organizations deal with trash pickup.

 

[Another note about The Netherlands: All of the Police Unions

nationwide are now on strike, angry about the Government's

"oppressive" policies, with police only arresting the most

serious offenders, and only giving out warnings to minor

violators, much to the chagrin of the department of justice,

which just this week stated that the government wants a "less

soft" approach by police.]

 

[This is posted to "Drug Policy Forum of California" because when

a prominent politician calls for an International Debate to

Totally Legalize Cannabis, that affects "Drug Policy in

California"; NORML has nominated The Netherlands for a Nobel

Peace Prize; others have recently posted similar articles.]

 

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