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Objectives of the General Coffeeshops Strike. We want our visitors to go and vote, and we want to gather attention for the problems the last 700 Dutch coffeeshop entrepreneurs are facing, as they are may and diverse. We want to show you and the authorities what is wrong with the Dutch Coffeeshop Policy, our objective is to get these problems solved. Choose Language:   Dutch or English/US  Obj. 1 We want to show what our cities look like without coffeeshops! We want to show the public and the authorities of the Netherlands
what our country looks like when all the coffeeshops are closed, even if
only for a day, the streets will be taken over by street dealers and the
smoke of those who cannot smoke in the coffeeshops. This is like a look in
the future with a right-wing, anti-cannabis government, after they have
closed them all. Let the Right-wingers have their way, for one day, it
might just be the eye-opener they need.Obj. 2 Over a million smokers with vote, By keeping our coffeeshops closed during polling hours we want to
stimulate our regulars to cast their vote, preferably for a pro-cannabis
party, a party that considers coffeeshops a normal part of Dutch society.
Although we will never know how many people use cannabis in the
Netherlands, by using the 7.7 % average cannabis consumption for Western
Europe (source: UNODC) amongst people over 16, we would have 966.519
cannabis smokers in the Netherlands, above age 20. (7.7% of
12.552.202-source:CBS) The figures were only given from the range of 16-20
year olds, so with the 18-20 year olds added it indicates we would have
over a million cannabis smokers with the right to vote. That means we
could vote 18 politicians into the Tweede Kamer, the Dutch Parliament.
This also means we are a political force to reckon with…meaning 18 reps in the Parliament! Obj. 3 Let’s use the press attention to make positive appearance in the media! By organizing this strike we want to gather attention from the
media, national and international. We want to get ourselves a lot of
positive press exposure, over the last years we have been exposed to
negative press, mainly because our Prime Minister holds a political and
religious grudge against cannabis and coffeeshops. His Party, the CDA, and
himself have caused an avalanche in bad press over the years, we never had
the chance to get good media coverage to speak up for ourselves. We are
looking for a media platform, the strike might be the way to get the
exposure we want.Obj. 4 Show solidarity for a realistic coffeeshop policy! We, the coffeeshop entrepreneurs, have never been really organized,
but with the pressure on coffeeshops mounting, we should get together and
join forces to fight back. If we do not unite and stand up now, the
coffeeshop entrepreneur, one of the world’s threatened species, could
extinct in a few years. I can only hope this strike can bring us the unity
we need. We are colleagues, not competitors! We have to stand and demand a
realistic coffeeshop policy.Obj. 5 The world is following the Dutch model, the Dutch want to kill the model! We want to show the whole world that the Dutch Coffeeshop
Experiment is a success, in contradiction to ignorant statements of some
of our political ‘representatives’ against the Dutch Tolerance Policy. In
spite of the mounting political pressure on the coffeeshops it has served
and serves as a model to other countries in the world, especially the US.
While Dutch conservatives vow to get the coffeeshops closed, the number of
cannabis clubs in California is growing, in fact, California harbors more
of these clubs than coffeeshops in the Netherlands. The Dutch newspaper
Vrij Nederland (Free Netherlands) published an extensive article about the
Californian phenomenon, under the title: “Yes, we cannabis”
http://www.vn.nl/Wad-mediabank-pagina/Yes-we-cannabis.htm Argentina
legalized cannabis completely, they even changed the constitution for it,
In Spain one cannabis club after another pops up, with a permit to grow
their own, in Moscow you can walk the street with 15 grams of cannabis,
without problems. The time has come to hold up our model, the Dutch
Approach, and receive some merits for it, instead of having to fight for
our sheer existence!Obj. 6 To prevent we end up jobless, hopeless and dopeless. After the financial crisis I can no longer trust I will be getting
money from the pension funds, by the time I should be getting some the
funds will have totally disappeared in the next financial downfalls. Let’s
just make sure we can keep our coffeeshops open, otherwise I have to work
until my 67th, maybe in a carwash or a supermarket. I feel too old for
that, I just want to keep my income. Don’t you?Obj. 7 The Tolerance Policy is in serious need of regulation! Like the CDA and CU politicians, we want the Tolerance Policy to
come to an end, but not the way they want it. Coffeeshops pay taxes over
their sales, so the Tax Office keeps track of the amount of cannabis every
coffeeshop sells, for obvious reasons. Coffeeshops should be issued
licenses to grow cannabis, based on the amount of kilo’s they sell per
year, the officially registered kilo’s, the undeniable kilo’s. The
coffeeshop entrepreneurs pick the best growers they know, send them to the
authorities to register as a licensed grower for a certain amount per
year, not exceeding the coffeeshops permit, and the hassle is over. After
that, the part of the Netherlands without coffeeshops (60%!) should be
‘equipped’ with coffeeshops too, so everybody in and visiting the
Netherlands can buy their cannabis in a safe environment, without being
confronted with other drugs. The growers pay tax, coffeeshop entrepreneurs
buy their cannabis with an official receipt, and the money poors into the
national Treasure Chest.Obj. 8 We want recognition for our work, not prosecution! Instead of criticism, we want recognition for our work and efforts
over the last decades, we, the coffeeshop entrepreneurs have successfully
achieved and maintained the objective of the Coffeeshop Tolerance Policy,
namely the “separation of the markets”. This policy was meant to allow
coffeeshops to sell consumers quantities of cannabis, and cannabis only,
to try and keep people, especially young people, away from the hard-drugs
market, as a progressive way of harm reduction. We did and do execute this
policy, hard-drugs, including alcohol, are not allowed in coffeeshops,
both coffeeshop staff and owners make sure coffeeshops stay free of
hard-drugs and people carrying and containing them physically. All the
politicians did since was endangering this separation of markets, as they
have closed 750 coffeeshops out of the 1450 we had in 1996, leaving the
Netherlands with 700 coffeeshops, and more people in the hands of street
dealers every time they close one. We even have a CDA MP shouting that all
coffeeshops should be closed, when she was asked if it should be thrown
out on the street without any supervision whatsoever, she replied: “Sure,
cocaine is illegal as well, but it can be bought on the street, people can
then go and buy their cannabis on the street, as well, if they so badly
want it.” Thus spoke one of our elected people’s representatives….Obj. 9 A regulated ‘backdoor’ for a satisfied customer! By regulating the supply to the ‘backdoor’ of the coffeeshops the
way I described before, with registered growers we can check and control
we would improve the quality of the cannabis offered in coffeeshops, we
know what and how they grow. By allowing coffeeshops to work with legal
growers, the price of cannabis grown would go down, half of the price the
growers charge us is to make up for the huge risks involved, once the risk
is gone, the price must go down. Even with tax added we should be able to
buy the cannabis cheaper than before. So, the customers can expect a
better product for a lower price, two for the price of one!Obj. 10 The available cannabis in shops based on daily sales! Coffeeshops can only have 500 grams of cannabis available on the
premises, any more cannabis present can lead to closure on discovery by
the police. Even if a coffeeshop sells far more than 500 grams a day, and
the taxman accepting the revenues of those sales, it is not allowed to
have more cannabis available. This restriction is no longer realistic, and
it causes coffeeshop owners and workers a lot of stress and unnecessary
risks. Every time the ‘refillman’ is on the road with some cannabis he can
be stopped by police, or even worse, robbed by thugs. Coffeeshops should
be allowed to stock a little bit more than what they sell on a daily
basis.Obj. 11 A school there, a school here, admittance strictly over 18 year! The present and foreseen criteria concerning the distance between
coffeeshops and schools for under 18s is outdated, the effect of this
measure has not been proven effective. In fact, it does not show any
confidence in the coffeeshop entrepreneurs and their staff, as they are
held to refuse any person entry to their shops by the AHOJG-rules for
coffeeshops, the J stands for Youngsters, implying the under 18
restriction. Allowing under 18s in a coffeeshop leads to immediate
closure, the period of closure varies. Second time the police finds a
youngster in a coffeeshop it means permanent closure, loss of permit and
finding a new job.Obj. 12 Closing more coffeeshops raises the share of sales for street dealers! The coffeeshop elimination strategy has to stop. This strategy
means the city eliminates the permit of every coffeeshops that ends up
being closed permanently, in order to reduce the number of coffeeshops.
This means more business for the street dealers and more business for the
other coffeeshops in the city. It also means more people parking around
less coffeeshop, causing more complaints about the coffeeshops involved,
leading the closure of the coffeeshops causing nuisance, etc. This is
wrong, the “closure’ permits should become available to new entrepreneurs,
by holding an auction, for example. In case a coffeeshop loses its
building, by fire, renovation, demolition or city reshuffling the owner
should be allowed to start over on a new location.Obj. 13 700 coffeeshops contribute 400.000.000 Euros in taxes, each year! The Netherlands are trying to shake of the financial crisis, but
closing coffeeshops is not helping much. The last 700 coffeeshops in the
Netherlands contribute 400 million Euros in taxes every year, or a little
over half a million Euros each, each year! Which other business branch
employing around 6 people per company contributes that kind of money to
the National Treasure? We want the Dutch Politicians and our fellow
citizens to consider the coffeeshops as profitable economic part of our
society.Obj. 14 Our staff works in our coffeeshops, not for the authorities! Coffeeshop workers have slowly but surely been turned into city-
and state officials, as they have to check if our customers do not park
double in front of the shop, check if the sidewalk is free of bikes and
loitering youngsters and check every visitors ID. I am amazed about how
this came to be and I think we should no longer comply. I can no longer
live with the fact that we have to pay the state over half a million Euros
on average a year, then do their work for them, and then have ourselves
slandered by our conservative leaders constantly. For the kind of money I
pay the state I want them to put a cop in front of my shop to check our
visitors ID, we are not authorized to do so. In the meanwhile he can scare
the kids away and oversee the parking. The streets are theirs..Obj. 15 Let’s keep our faithful workers out of unemployment! Every coffeeshop has about 6 employees, we have 12 people working
in our two shops. Most of our workers are with us for over 10 years now,
they have settled like everyone with a steady job and income. If we do not
succeed in keeping our coffeeshops open they will al become unemployed,
and have to join the ranks of the other unemployables, stigmatized with a
marihuana leaf on their CV. I would hate to see that happen, I consider
our staff members part of the family we are. We have to stand tall for our
workers, they always stand tall for our coffeeshops, they deserve that.Obj. 16 Integration is a fact in coffeeshops, make it stay that way! Politicians are after our votes again, so they use their fancy
words again, a very popular fancy word used by vote hunters is
Integration. They want people from foreign origin to integrate into Dutch
society, but just wanting it is not going to make it happen, so it is just
a fancy word in The Hague and on the streets. In coffeeshops, integration
is a fact, people from all walks of life, background, culture and age join
there to discuss about reality and life, while having a joint and a
coffee, without raising their voices in anger. Allow us to integrate
along, in piece and in the safe environment of a coffeeshop.
Stand up to be counted!Nol van Schaik. Coffeeshop entrepreneur.  |