Legislation to control the market of hard drugs such as cocaine and MDMA (ecstasy) is for the mayor of Amsterdam the only way to combat drug trafficking and its “disastrous” consequences for the economy and security of the Dutch capital.

“We could imagine that cocaine could be administered by pharmacists or through a medical model,” says Femke Halsema in an interview with AFP.

Since 2018, the 57-year-old environmentalist has been at the helm of the city known worldwide for its coffeeshops and its vibrant commercial and tourist life.

The other image of the city, says the mayor, is the criminal underworld with a turnover of billions of euros every year, which disrupts the economy and threatens the future of the capital’s vulnerable youth.

“I also believe that some drugs are dangerous and that it is wise to reduce their use.” But “the way we’re going is not helping. We should think of better ways to regulate drugs,” according to the mayor, who believes putting MDMA on the market should even be considered.

In Amsterdam, the economic hub of drugs, 80% of police activity is devoted to fighting drug-related crime, he points out.

The mayor calls the consequences of drug trafficking “disastrous” in her city, where the consumption of hard drugs is also becoming, as in other European capitals, increasingly common. “Street cocaine prices have stayed exactly the same, so we have no effect,” he points out.

“So isn’t it ridiculous to leave drug trafficking to criminals and not try to find a civilized market model?”

– “Ethical Debate” –

This position is particularly criticized by the mayor of Antwerp, Bart de Wever, “a big supporter of the war on drugs”, Halsema reports.

The Belgian port has in recent years become the main entry point for cocaine in Europe.

Authorities at another major crossing, Rotterdam, are targeting another link in the chain and last year launched a campaign targeting users, insisting that every “line” or “pill” supports criminal networks.

“Are consumer-users criminals? I don’t think so,” and criminalizing them has not had the expected results on the other side of the Atlantic, where prisons are overcrowded and the health effects are still devastating, says Halsema.

In the Netherlands, as in many countries, the debate is “emotional and moral”. “Drugs destroy health, drugs are bad,” he sums up. “And rarely is there an economic discussion, or a more pragmatic or financial one for that matter.”

While the “conservative” national government “doesn’t want to talk about it,” Halsema has opened an international debate. He invited officials from around the world in late January to discuss “how, not if” cities should regulate drugs.

The idea is gaining ground, according to the manifesto published at the end of the conference, which is signed mainly by the mayor of Bern in Switzerland and the former mayor of Bogotá, the capital of Colombia.

All over the world, “anyone who thinks a little more about how we can actually reduce the dominance of drug trafficking comes to this conclusion,” sums up this former criminology researcher.

“In reality there is no alternative,” adds the politician, who hopes to reach multilateral authorities such as the UN or the EU to influence national authorities.

– “Narkokratos” –

Achieving a “regulated, healthy and controlled” market will take decades, he admits. You should also consider “the whole chain, from production (…) if you organize only one part of it, it attracts criminals”.

However, the mayor refutes the oft-circulated idea that the Netherlands’ lenient policy on soft drugs – under which the sale of cannabis by popular coffeeshops is tolerated but not the production and supply – is responsible for the boom in cocaine trafficking. in the country.

“It’s not about being soft or repressive. It’s just about our geographic location and our trade traditions.”

The stakes are high, he stresses, recalling three murders linked to the trial of drug lord Riduan Taghi in the capital in recent years, including that of journalist Peter R. de Vries.

“The judicial system is under pressure and this is costing an incredible amount,” he underlines.

“And in that sense, we are slowly but surely evolving into a narco-state in which, yes, the fight against drugs becomes one of our most important issues.”