City Hall: Legalise cannabis now

An estimated DKK 1bn worth of cannabis is sold every year in Christiania, much of which ends up in the hands of organised crime, allegedly the Hells Angels biker gang. According to some claims, pushers in the ‘free state’ of Christiania are selling more than in 2004 when the police first launched a crackdown

Now Social Democrat spokesman Lars Aslan Rasmussen says that de-criminalising the cannabis trade would stop the cash flow, reports Seven59.dk and B.dk.

»Not only have we wasted eight years pursuing a futile policy in Christiania, we’ve helped to create a multi-million income for criminal bikers so they can traffic more weapons and women,« he said. »It’s a major, major problem.«

Wants trial scheme

A majority at City Hall wants to set up a trial scheme with state-controlled cannabis cafes throughout the capital, an idea that was dismissed by the Justice Ministry last year.

Police Commissioner Steffen Th. Steffensen acknowledged yesterday Wednesday that the ‘battle of Christiania’ is lost.

»We could deploy 500 officers on narcotics alone and we still wouldn’t beat the dealers. It’s pure fantasy to believe cannabis can be stamped out.«

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