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The Dutch government said Friday it would move to classify high-potency marijuana alongside hard drugs such as cocaine and ecstasy, the latest step in the countryÕs ongoing reversal of its famed tolerance policies.
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The decision means most of the cannabis now sold in the NetherlandsÕ weed cafes would have to be replaced by milder variants. But skeptics said the move would be difficult to enforce, and that it could simply lead many users to smoke more of the less potent weed.
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Possession of marijuana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but police do not prosecute people for possession of small amounts, and it is sold openly in designated cafes. Growers are routinely prosecuted if caught.
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Economic Affairs Minister Maxime Verhagen said weed containing more than 15 percent of its main active chemical, THC, is so much stronger than what was common a generation ago that it should be considered a different drug entirely.
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The high potency weed has Òplayed a role in increasing public health damage,Ó he said at a press conference in The Hague.
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The Cabinet has not said when it will begin enforcing the rule.
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Jeffrey Parsons, a psychologist at Hunter College in New York who studies addiction, said the policy may not have the benefits the government is hoping for.
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ÒIf it encourages smoking an increased amount of low-concentration THC weed, it is likely to actually cause more harm than good,Ó he said, citing the potential lung damage and cancer-causing effects of extra inhalation.
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The ongoing Dutch crackdown on marijuana is part of a decade-long rethink of liberalism in general that has seen a third of the windows in AmsterdamÕs famed prostitution district shuttered and led the Netherlands to adopt some of the toughest immigration rules in Europe.
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