The Dutch 2012 election result and the coffeeshops
By Tom Blickman
he 2012 Dutch elections were hailed as decisive for the future of the coffeeshops, where the sale of small amounts of cannabis is tolerated. The result is inconclusive. The parties in favour of restricting the coffeeshops or outright abolishing them got 77 of the 150 seats, while those against the recently introduced 'cannabis pass' and/or in favour of regulating the supply of cannabis to the coffeeshops got 73. However, the issue is not that straightforward given that in the Netherlands no single party has an absolute majority and a coalition government has to be formed.
The Netherlands is considered to be a pioneer in cannabis policy reform. In the 1970s the Dutch made the transition from 'zero tolerance' to de facto legalization, at least at the 'front door' of the coffeeshop, where the sale of cannabis to users is tolerated. Problems persist at the 'back door', where the coffeeshop owner has to obtain his supply, which remains illegal and is subject to law enforcement.[1] Suppliers can still be prosecuted for transporting cannabis to the shops. Coffeeshop owners can be arrested buying their inventory, even though they are allowed to sell it. "It's a crazy situation," a coffee shop owner once described his conundrum. "Every day I'm obliged to commit crimes because I have to stock up illegally. But at the same time I pay taxes on the sales."
The left and centre-left parties in the country are all in favour of regulating the supply of cannabis to the coffeeshops and introducing an excise on the trade. According to the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB), who offered interested political parties an analysis of the economic effects of the policy proposals in their election manifestos, these measures would bring in 500 million euros (300 million in excise and 200 million in reduced costs of the police and criminal justice system).
The block of Christian parties (who had the worst elections results ever, being reduced to 21 seats shared between three parties) are in favour of abolishing the coffeeshops all together while the xenophobic Party of Freedom (PVV) led by Geert Wilders and the conservative-liberal party (VVD) are in favour of the recently introduced 'cannabis pass' that excludes non-resident foreigners and obliges residents to register as a member of private-club type coffeeshops. However, the current rightwing government has lost its parliamentary support and the most likely successor is a coalition government of the VVD and the social-democrat party (PvdA) which will have a majority in parliament, perhaps with a third party, possibly the progressive liberals of D66 – in favour of regulation – or the Christian democrats – in favour of abolishing the coffeeshop system.
Both parties won the elections with the VVD winning more (41 seats for the VVD and 38 for the social democrats), meaning that the current Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the VVD will have the initiative for the coalition negotiations. What the consequences for the coffeeshops will be remains unclear. At the moment both parties are diametrically opposed on the issue – increasing restrictions on the shops favoured by the VVD versus regulation of supply advocated by the PvdA – and an agreement seems not easy. However, under pressure to form a stable government that should tackle the financial crisis and European integration issues, both parties need to find common ground.
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