From January 1st 2008, Amsterdam Police are no longer allowed to use cannabis whilst off-duty.
Officers in Holland generally and Amsterdam specifically, famous for its liberal drugs laws, have been told they must set the public "a good moral example" and this new guideline has been confirmed this week by Dutch interior minister, Guusje ter Horst.
Amsterdam Police are defending their rights to use cannabis when not on duty - which kind of puts the kai-bosh on UK claims of how dangerous cannabis is, don't you think? The UK Liberal-Democrats have already said they will decriminalise a small amount of cannabis for personal use, so whats with the Labour and the Conservative parties? Unless they change their stance, perhaps we ought to be thinking of a few changes in the UK?
When asked the question by the right-wing Freedom Party, she said that such drug use could undermine a police officer's authority.
While Ms Ter Horst stressed that individual police forces must take responsibility for enforcing the guideline, she also stated that they should adopt a clear single policy on this issue. At present, there are numerous differences between the country's various forces.
The ban, make's the Amsterdam force the first in the Netherlands to bar officers from using drugs when not at work.
Frank Gittay, the city's police council chairman, said: "Until now police were only banned from showing up for work stoned or drunk. But now we are telling officers they should also behave like the police at all times? "That means not taking drugs and not getting excessively drunk whether on or off duty."
But Dutch police union chairman Hans van Duijn said: "Many of our members are opposed to this." The Canna Zine is 1 year old this week. Happy birthday to us, and thanks to everyone who visits the Canna Zine to find out whats happening in the world of cannabis.
You won't find any Police or government propaganda reports on the Canna Zine. We leave that to other cannabis websites. We tell it just like it is, so here's to another successful year of cannabis news, and exerting pressure on UK government to change the irrational policy on cannabis.
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