State weed
Smoking a joint containing weed or hash that is legally produced – under the watchful eye of the government. From next Monday (17 June), this will be possible in Maastricht. After years of preparation. the ‘weed trial’ will start in ten Dutch cities. In Limburg, in addition to Maastricht, Heerlen is also participating.
The objective: experimenting with the legal production and distribution of cannabis. According to the law, it is still illegal, but the government turns a blind eye to the sale of soft drugs in coffeeshops. With a criminal circuit at the backdoor as a result. The hope is that with the new approach illegal producers will be cut off.
During the trial, the production will be in the hands of a dozen growers, chosen via a selection procedure; the government checks the quality. Small-scale experiments have already taken place in Tilburg and Breda since December. Now it is the turn of the other eight cities. For the time being, coffeeshops may also sell their ‘familiar’ cannabis from the illegal circuit, in addition to the ‘state weed’. This ‘transitional phase’ is planned to last until mid-September, after which the illegal weed will disappear. That should provide the legal growers with enough time to increase production, but also the quality and variation – to prevent users turning towards illegal trade after all. The experiment will run for at least four years after that. The government will then decide whether or not to return to the old situation.
Save your bike
Bike owners be aware: it’s that time of the year again! On Monday, 17 June, employees of the Facility Services will start to go around the UM-buildings and tag all bikes that have a ‘visible defect’ with a small paper tag. With the yearly ‘bike clean-up action’, the UM tries to prevent overfilled racks full of damaged bikes that are not in use anymore.
Want to keep your bike? Then make sure to remove the paper tag on time. All bikes that still have it attached to them in the end of August will be taken to one of two central places: in Randwyck (behind Endepolsdomein 150) and at Tapijn (beside building TAPA), where they can be retrieved by their owners until 20 September. Good to know: bike-collectors in Randwyck need to make an appointment at the reception of EPD 150 beforehand.
Didn’t make it until 20 September? Then your chance is gone. Left-overs, of which there are dozens every year, will be given away. Still usable ones are offered to the Ambachtscentrum Fiets (formerly Fietsbank), facility manager Anke Dassen informs when asked. Here, the bikes (or their parts) are prepared for a second life with people who cannot buy a bicycle themselves. And the non-usable bikes? "Those go to the scrap metal."
Room for discussion?
Is there actually still room for discussion at the Room for Discussion – a debating platform at the University of Amsterdam? One speaker after the other is cancelled or moved to another location, sister newspaper Folia writes.
Last week, it was minister of Defence Kajsa Ollongren. She was supposed to come on 13 May, which was cancelled due to the planned pro-Palestinian walk-out, which led to the occupation of university buildings throughout the country. Attempt number two has now also been cancelled: according to the Amsterdam ‘triangle’ – mayor, public prosecutor and chief of police – the risks of unrest are too great “looking at the situation lately”.
Earlier this year, debates with mayor Femke Halsema and Rob Bauer, the highest-ranking military officer within NATO, were moved to another hall for safety reasons. Both Bauer and Halsema said afterwards to Folia that they felt it was a pity that people were not open to discussion. “It is one-sided shouting, not a dialogue,” said Bauer.
Purely Amsterdam shenanigans? No, a ‘dialogue table’ (about the war in Gaza) was cancelled in Maastricht last January due to “the risk of disruption being too great”, said Rob van Duijn from Studium Generale at the time in Observant.