The government’s plan to ban many more designer drugs could rely on a large majority in the House of Representatives. In any case, PVV, VVD, NSC, BBB, CDA, ChristenUnie and SGP support the bill of Ministers Kuipers and Yeşilgöz to make three “groups of substances” illegal and not to ban all their derivatives separately. In this way, hundreds of designer drugs (chemical variations of classic drugs) suddenly became unacceptable.
Almost everyone agrees that drugs can cause great harm to health. Many speakers noted that police sometimes confiscate designer drugs, but then have to return them to the owner “because a molecule is missing,” meaning the drugs are not illegal.
Drugs worth between 6 and 8 million in Zaanstad
A recent example of this in Zaanstad was frequently discussed in discussions. Like the mayor, the prosecutor’s office and the police, outgoing Minister Yeşilgöz expressed his sadness about the events in the city as follows: “The items with a street value of between 6 and 8 million euros had to be returned to their owners.” Yeşilgöz said that “failure to intervene in such cases” is incredibly inadequate.
MPs used expressions such as “We are now far behind the times” and “It has become a cat and mouse game most of the time.” Ministers emphasized that the proposal would be beneficial for both public health and crime reduction.
Some in the debate have called for a ban on all designer drugs, but there appears to be insufficient support for this. Kuipers believes the Cabinet’s approach is more proportionate. However, the law is expected to be amended to give the House of Representatives more opportunity to debate the addition of new substances to the list of banned substances.
Post-Christmas holiday mood
It will only be clear in a few weeks who will vote for or against the law in the House of Representatives. Because voting won’t take place until after the Christmas holidays. GroenLinks-PvdA Deputy Mutluer pointed out the dilemma that, on the one hand, criminals are prohibited from engaging in illegal behavior, and on the other hand, no harmless substances are allowed to be included in the list. He said ministers’ reactions were “partially helpful”.
SP MP Van Nispen also had many questions about the details. He still needs to discuss with his group whether the answers address all concerns. D66 member Sneller was mostly critical. According to him, “There is finally progress being made on the coffeehouse policy, but unfortunately this bill is based entirely on the idea of more prohibitions and more repression.”
If the House of Representatives passes the law, the Senate must also approve it. Minister Kuipers believes that “if all goes well” the law could come into force on July 1 next year.
Source: NOS

Emma Fitzgerald is an accomplished political journalist and author at The Nation View. With a background in political science and international relations, she has a deep understanding of the political landscape and the forces that shape it.