NETHERLANDS MOVES TO OUTLAW SUPERSTRONG 'SKUNK' CANNABIS

THE sale of certain types of cannabis could be banned in the
Netherlands amid concern that they have become so powerful they could
have the same addictive and psychological impact as hard drugs.

The Dutch Government said that it would ban the most powerful forms of
cannabis, such as "skunk", after research showed that they had doubled
in strength in the past few years and could now be classified as a
hard drug.

Levels of THC -- tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychologically active
ingredient -- in skunk have almost doubled from 9 per cent in 1999 to
15 per cent now, according to the Trimbos Institute, a drug research
institute that monitors cannabis sales for the Health Ministry. The
rise is due to new professional growing techniques. The institute
said: "It has almost doubled in strength but we don't know what the
effect on public health is."

Skunk has now become one of the most popular forms of cannabis on sale
in the Netherlands. Between 2.5 per cent and 3 per cent of the Dutch
population regularly use cannabis and there are between 30,000 and
80,000 cannabis addicts. However, it is not clear whether stronger
cannabis means that more people are likely to become addicted or
develop other psychological problems.

The Dutch Cabinet agreed last week to commission research to determine
whether skunk is as dangerous as hard drugs, and this week will lay
legislation before parliament to ban its sale if it is found to be
harmful.

Opposition parties said that if soft drugs became illegal, authorities
would lose supervision over their trade and use.

The Government has agreed a series of measures to clamp down on the
industry. Selling cannabis has been banned near schools and near Dutch
borders with other countries, to try to stop smuggling. Police have
closed half the coffee shops in Amsterdam in the past few years and
ministers want to combat "cannabis tourism" by allowing cannabis to be
sold only to Dutch nationals.