Pubdate: Sat, 20 Jan 2001
Source: Independent  (UK)
Copyright: 2001 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL
Website: http://www.independent.co.uk/
Author: Stephen Castle

CANNABIS SHOULD BE LEGAL, BELGIAN CABINET DECIDES

Belgium's cabinet has approved plans to legalise the use of cannabis, while 
resisting calls for a drugs regime as liberal as that of its neighbour, the 
Netherlands.

After a hot debate, Belgium's coalition government agreed on a compromise 
making it legal to grow or smoke cannabis, but not to buy or sell it.

Smoking openly in the Grand Place of Brussels or other public places will 
still leave Belgians open to possible prosecution under laws to prevent 
"social nuisances," commonly used for those who urinate flagrantly in 
public (doing so discreetly is not considered a crime).

The curious Belgian compromise over the weed has some logic, even for a 
country which says it wants to reduce drug use. Surveys shows that as many 
as 40 per cent of the country's 10 million population has experience of 
cannabis and, with the Dutch border, an hour away for most of the 
population, some liberalisation seems inevitable. At present, possession of 
any cannabis is technically punishable by a prison sentence.

Paul Geerts, a spokesman for the Consumer Affairs and Health Ministry, said 
that plans to allow Dutch-style cafes, where cannabis is legally available, 
had been judged to "go too far". For people who want to obtain it there 
were two alternatives, he said: "You can grow it yourself or most people in 
Belgium know where you can buy it in the Netherlands".

There will, he said, be no formal limit placed on the amount that people 
can possess for their own use because to do so "implies that there is not a 
problem; we want to help people avoid drugs". The new regulations treat 
cannabis on a par with alcohol and nicotine in terms of the health risks it 
poses.

Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said a royal decree would be issued 
instructing prosecutors not to pursue people for possession. "This is a 
policy that is being followed in many of the countries in the European 
Union," he said. "We are not penalising individual users of cannabis, but 
we are concentrating on production, distribution or problematic use."

Some other EU members take a tougher line on drugs, however. France, in 
particular, has attacked Dutch laws for promoting drug trafficking.

The Health Minister, Magda Alvoet, said the new measure was a recognition 
that the judiciary should no longer intervene in the personal use of cannabis.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart