Pressmessage, to all media: Numbers of Cannabisshops in Holland decreased 1% since the year 2000. A 4% decrease in the 4 major cities, from 426 to 413. The latest figures on the Dutch tolerated cannabisshops ( July 30,2002) show a small decrease in numbers overall, and a bigger decrease of these outlets in the Big 4, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. Overall, The Netherlands are now supposed to have 805 leisure business with a permit to sell cannabisresin and –buds, paying taxes over the sales of cannabis is obligated for these registered retailers. Out of 504 cities and city-counties, only 105 allow cannabisshops, the rest of them maintain the zero-option, mainly because of local party politics. The policy has national guidelines, but the final decision on to have or not to have cannabisoutlets in their city or county, is in the hands of the Mayor involved. They can interpretate the national policy to their liking, no CDA Mayor will allow cannabisshops, the zero-option is their party’s policy. That means that no city/county with a CDA Mayor, will allow cannabis to be sold through regulated outlets. The estimated number of cannabisshops in 1997 was 1179, the report shows a decrease in numbers of 32 %, compared to the figures in the newly released report. The report includes an index of the cities and their number of registered cannabisoutlets, in 1999, 2000 and 2001. These figures do not include the so-called cannabis delivery services, who operate freely, even in cities with the intended numbers of cannabisshops. Haarlem, for instance, has 16 cannabisshops, the number the city wanted as a maximum, coming down from 22 in 1994. These outlets are checked by the authorities, about 4 times a year, at random, and show all of them are doing well for the last 5 years. Yet, Haarlem allows 4 delivery services to offer and sell their cannabis, they advertise with stickers on traffic-lights and through ads on local cable tv! The AHOJG rules, that are the national guidelines for coffeeshops, do not allow advertising, the A stands for that, but that does not seem to go for hash on your doorstep. The report was forwarded to the Dutch Parliament, by the new Justice Minister, Donner, a former senator for the CDA, wich is the biggest party in the Netherlands at the moment. The leader of the CDA, and present Prime-Minister, Balkenende, stated he would try to get all cannabisshops closed, before the elections. After being elected he intended to ‘only’ bring down the numbers of cannabisoutlets, wich has been succesfully executed by the former Purple government, over the last two periods of governing the country. Balkenende’s last attempt to go after the cannabisshops exist in getting these businesses away from schools (200 meters?) and to close the coffeeshops in the borderareas, for they attract cannabistourists from surrounding countries, like the whole of Europe. The ‘200 meter from a school-rule’ has also been executed by the Purple coalition, under the J of the ahoJg rules in the previous 8 years, so Balkenende wants to take credit for something that has been done by the former Parliament, he is serving water after wine. The ‘bordershop’ issue will not be executeable, the Netherlands as a country is to small to impress foreign customers with that, they will just drive on to the next city with coffeeshops, so it will only increase the milage of the visiting potheads from Europe, a little. There is no mention of Balkenende’s intended hard line on cannabisshops in Donners letter, offering the research report to the government, he only states that the monitoring, in the present form, will be the basis for the further policy for cannabisshops. The CDA has just been bragging about closing all coffeeshops, before the elections, as I predicted, nothing of this stance has remained intact, it appears to be a big hoax. We will compare the index of the Ministery of Justice with the one we made in the Global Hempmuseum, as we strive to know the exact numbers of cannabisshops are, for the last two years. Cannabis will be available in the Netherlands, as it has been for 3 decades now, Balkenende’s bluff has been called, by his own Minister of Justice, of all people… It seems our ‘Dutch Harry Potter’ is not able to ‘magic’ the Dutch cannabisshops away, as was stated in the British press, the fairy tale ends here. Nol van Schaik, Chairman for the Global Hempmuseum, Haarlem, the Netherlands. www.globalhempmuseum.nl Link to the report, by Intraval : http://www.justitie.nl/Images/11_13414.pdf