HIGH TECHNOLOGY BOOSTS DUTCH MARIJUANA TRADE

As The UK Debate Over Decriminalisation Of The Drug Continues,
The Netherlands Is Having Problems, Reports Ian Bickerton

Not for nothing does a metre-high marijuana plant adorn the drug squad
office at police headquarters in the eastern Dutch city of Arnhem.

Seized in a police raid, it is evidence of a problem that is
growing.

There are probably as many cannabis plants as people in Arnhem, police
think. The city of 140,000 residents is home to at least 1,000 illegal
marijuana nurseries, the highest concentration being in the run-down
district of Klarendal. On the basis of those figures, the street value
of the area's cannabis production is easily Fl 100m (Pounds 28.6m).

The trade is flourishing despite an overall decline in the number of
coffee shops in the Netherlands, where the sale of the drug in limited
quantities has been officially tolerated since the 1980s. Over the
past five years, the number of such outlets has fallen from 1,200 to
840, according to government figures.

Twelve years ago Arnhem tolerated 50 marijuana coffee shops; now there
are 14. One has even been converted into a neighbourhood police
station. The lurid multi-coloured mural, replete with inevitable
weed-puffing rastafarian, remains, as does the jukebox, but locals are
now offered nothing stronger than coffee.

The decline reflects a general tightening of official attitudes in
places such as Arnhem towards the control and impact of the drug.
However, in Arnhem as in the country at large, the number of illegal
outlets is on the rise and their market is increasingly beyond Dutch
borders.

Paul Scholten, the city's recently retired mayor, thinks an "alarming"
80 per cent of the city's cannabis output goes out of the country,
much of it crossing the nearby border into Germany, 20km away. The
"back door" trade embraces couriers, postal services and the internet,
and has led to increasing local concern.

Lute Nieuwerth, Arnhem police chief, says: "We have to confront the
politicians with the failure of their political vision. These are not
old hippies growing a few plants. . No, this is a lucrative trade that
is growing and is more professional, and a lot of people are earning a
lot of money."

There is no doubting the target of his remarks. The last time the
subject came up in Parliament, politicians backed - by a single vote -
a motion to decriminalise the wholesale trade in cannabis, seeking to
correct an apparent anomaly whereby coffee shops held licences but
suppliers remained open to prosecution.

The cabinet refused to endorse the vote, saying that to do so would
infringe international treaties. The mood for liberalisation is
however clear. More than 60 local authorities backed that vote and one
threatened legal action against the state if it did not relax the rules.

Arnhem police have begun a crackdown on suppliers in response to local
concern, intending to close at least one nursery a day between now and
June 2003. Penalties for those convicted range from community service
to four years in prison.

"Our message is simple: for drug growers Arnhem is a bridge too far,"
says Mr Scholten, refering to the famous second world war battle
fought here.

The police are facing an uphill struggle because nurseries have become
sophisticated, often hidden outfits. Growers invest up to Fl 10,000 in
computer-controlled lights, carbon filters to mask the sickly sweet
smell, fertiliser, seeds, pumps and temperature gauges.

In one raid police uncovered 500 plants in a secret room, its entrance
hidden behind a mirror in a bedroom clothes closet.

Arnhem police have received dispensation from the public prosecutor to
destroy confiscated growing apparatus. That put paid to a legal oddity
whereby equipment that had been seized in raids was auctioned by the
tax authorities, often being sold back to the very people from whom it
had been confiscated, a policy based on the argument that the
equipment could as easily be used to grow tomatoes.

"Grow" shops, selling such apparatus, are sprouting up everywhere.
Some even buy the equipment for a grower in return for a cut of the
profits from the eventual cannabis crop.

Rien de Leeuw, who heads Arnhem's drugs squad, says such shops are
often a front for illegal activities and will move to close off that
criminal conduit - if he can prove it.

The internet has also allowed the trade to flourish, starting with the
supply of seeds, which can legally be used to grow hemp for legal,
industrial or medical purposes.

Despite the Netherlands' liberal views on cannabis, the rewards still
far exceed the risks.

The street value of a kilo of marijuana is Fl 4,500. A single plant
yields 22g of cannabis and can be harvested four times. A modest
nursery of 200 plants therefore produces a crop worth Fl 80,000. In
one operation, police raided a warehouse containing around 4,000
plants, worth Fl 1.6m.