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A court case which is taking place in Holland illustrates everything which is good, and bad, about having 'tolerant' cannabis policies whilst still maintaining cannabis prohibition.
The 57 year old owner of the Checkpoint coffee-shop in Ternuezen, which is a small frontier town close to the Belgian border, has gone from hero to zero in just a few years.
Or to put it more succinctly, from being something of a local hero in Terneuzen, he is now facing 8 years in prison, simply for running a successful business.
Meddie W opened his Checkpoint coffeeshop a long time ago. He realised quickly that as a result of Hollands tolerant attitude towards cannabis there would be many discerning customers who would be looking for the very best quality cannabis and hashish from around the world. And he was right.
Picture shows Afghani No#1 from Sensi Seeds. Available in most good coffee-shops
As a positive by-product of the existence of Checkpoint, illicit drug sales were reduced dramatically in the area, and all parties agree the Checkpoint was a useful addition to the community.
With the Belgian border only minutes from the aptly-named Checkpoint, the coffeeshop soon proved to be a major attraction for cultural visits from Belgium and the north of France. On any given day, up to 2,500 tourists would visit the city, all spending money in the town.
So pleased with this new revenue channel was the town of Terneuzen, the city council even put up road signs in French to show drug tourists the route to Checkpoint.
Then Meddie W was offered a more upmarket spot for his enterprise, outside the centre but within better reach of sufficient parking space and main roads. A success story was being written.
The story was one of a happy and useful co-operation between the city council, the police and the Checkpoint Coffee Shop for the sake of the control and regulation of cannabis supplies in the town.
But those that giveth can also taketh away and it soon became apparent this success had also lead to problems. Terneuzen Mayor Jan Lonink said, “With so many new visitors to Terneuzen, pretty soon it got out of hand. There were many problems with public safety. Parking violations, vandalism, speeding – the people in our town simply didn’t want that anymore”.
So it would appear that after proving to be a good method of controlling the local drug problem by running a successful business, the business ran TOO well. Meddie W sold TOO MUCH cannabis.
Under the tolerant cannabis laws in the Netherlands a coffee-shop owner is only allowed to have a maximum of 500 grams or half a kilo of cannabis on the premises.
The problem is, if you are receiving over 2500 customers a day, 500 grams isn't going to provide enough supply, for the market which the town council had helped Meddie W create. And so argues the defence team acting on behalf of Meddie W and the Checkpoint Coffee Shop.
Their defence is centre'd on the fact the Checkpoint was an important part of the safety infrastructure in Terneuzen. Everybody knew where the cannabis came from, and as a result there was a level of quality control illicit drug dealers do not offer. Even Mayor Jan Lonink recognises there was a problem, which Checkpoint helped solve.
But Mr Lonink denies his council was solely responsible for the creation as well as the rapid growth of Checkpoint.
“It was a joint decision by the police, legal authorities and us, to follow this tolerant policy. When there was no regulation, there was a lot of illegal selling of drugs, a lot of crime and violence, so the city council decided to put an end to that”.
To 'put an end to that', the city council allowed the opening of the Checkpoint Coffee Shop.
Today however, Meddie W stands accused of storing 'kilos' of cannabis, as well as money launering.
At Tuesday’s court case, it became clear the Terneuzen authorities did have a suspicion that Checkpoint was stocking more than 500 grams, but that they never asked for an inquiry.
Cannabis advocate Raymond Dufour of the Netherlands Drug Policy Foundation says the court case shows the current system does not work. “Coffeeshops are only allowed to have 500 grams of cannabis in stock,” he says. “Everybody knows that if you have 2,500 clients a day, you need more than 500 grams. It’s just a silly condition. Everybody in Terneuzen must have known this”.
Green/Eco/Environment 
