VZCZCXRO9169
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHTC #1415 1741745
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 231745Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6126
INFO RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS 0333
RUEAWJB/DOJ WASHDC
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEABND/DEA HQS WASHDC
RHEHOND/DIR ONDCP WASHDC
RUEHAT/AMCONSUL AMSTERDAM 1011

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 001415 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR INL, INL/T, EUR/ERA, EUR/PGI, EUR/UBI 
ONDCP FOR CHARLOTTE SISSON 
DOJ FOR OIA 
USEU FOR WAGNER AND DOJ 
DEA HQS FOR OEE, OIE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SNAR KCRM PINS PREL NL
SUBJECT: PARLIAMENT BACKS DOWN ON CANNABIS CULTIVATION 
 
REF:  THE HAGUE 1245 
 
¶1. Summary. Dutch Parliament backed away June 22 from a 
proposal to permit the regulated large-scale production of 
cannabis to supply marijuana "coffeeshops."  Justice 
Minister Donner, who strongly opposes legalization of large- 
scale cannabis production, threatened to resign if 
Parliament passed a proposed resolution authorizing a trial 
program for commercial cultivation of cannabis in 
Maastricht.  The parliamentary majority supporting the 
proposal collapsed during Parliamentary debate when 
government coalition partner VVD withdrew its support.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. The proposal to allow regulated, large-scale production 
of cannabis was made by the Mayor of Maastricht, Gerd Leers, 
as part of his effort to reduce the impact of drug tourism 
on the city of Maastricht, located on the border with 
Belgium and Germany.  The Cabinet rejected the idea, but a 
Parliamentary coalition including the opposition Labor Party 
(PvdA) and government coalition members VVD and D66 
supported a resolution to force the Cabinet to permit 
Leers's plan to go forward.  The resolution would have 
directed the Justice Ministry to suspend prosecution of 
cannabis producers and dealers who participate in the 
Maastricht regulated production plan.  (NOTE.  The sale, in 
regulated "coffeeshops," of up to five grams of cannabis for 
personal consumption is legal in the Netherlands.  The 
cultivation or transportation of larger quantities of 
cannabis, however, is prohibited.  END NOTE.)  Supporters of 
the Maastricht plan argue that regulated cannabis production 
to supply coffeeshops would reduce drugs related nuisance 
from home growers, and resolve the legal anomaly in which 
coffeeshops are permitted to sell cannabis products, but not 
to buy or grow their stock.  Justice Minister Donner (CDA), 
who opposes legalization of cannabis production, threatened 
twice in the past week to resign if Parliament passed the 
resolution, warning that "if Parliament wants that, they 
must find another minister."  The VVD party dropped its 
support of the cannabis cultivation proposal following 
Donner's resignation threats.  Without VVD's support, the 
plan has little chance of passing Parliament. 
 
¶3. During the June 22 Parliamentary debate on the 
resolution, Donner said production of small quantities of 
cannabis for personal consumption does not violate European 
Union or international law, but the large-scale production 
envisaged by Maastricht Mayor Leers would.  This view was 
echoed by European Commissioner for Justice Franco Frattini 
in a visit to Dutch Parliament on June 20.  Frattini told 
Dutch parliamentarians, "The line is individual consumption. 
Production or transportation of soft drugs is against 
European rules."  Donner estimated that supplying the nearly 
8,000 kilograms of cannabis sold in Maastricht coffeeshops 
each year would require the cultivation of 80,000 plants, 
which he said would require a plantation the size of three 
soccer fields. 
 
¶4. Donner and Interior Minister Remkes (VVD) have proposed 
alternatives to Mayor Leers' plans to control drug nuisances 
in the border region.  Specifically, they have called for 
the destruction of illegal cannabis plantations, closure of 
all unlicensed marijuana shops, and improved cross-border 
law enforcement cooperation.  Another component of Mayor 
Leers's plan to limit the negative effects of drug tourism 
in his district, the relocation of coffee shops from the 
center of Maastricht to the outskirts of the city, has also 
been controversial.  Belgian authorities sharply criticized 
Leers' plan, saying that it would merely shift the problem 
of drug tourism closer to the border with Belgium. 
 
Blakeman