In Amsterdam, cocaine will be legalized

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema proposes regulating the sale and use of cocaine in the city to undermine the economy of criminal enterprises, which, according to her, generate "billions" in profits.

"Let me conclude that centuries of frustration and repression have achieved little. It turns out that people need stimulants. There is a market for this," she said in an interview, as reported by Bloomberg.

Halsema emphasized that drug markets should be regulated to undermine the income model of "unscrupulous criminals."

At the same time, she explains that she is not in favor of "hasty legalization" of cocaine, but rather its regulation. In particular, this is already happening in the Dutch government's pilot project on cannabis cultivation, where it is legally supplied to cafes.

According to the government, last year the number of seized cocaine shipments in the Netherlands increased. Most of the cocaine was found in the ports of Rotterdam and Vlissingen, and trade has also increased at Dutch airports.