Thread by @SteveTransform

BREAKING:
Netherlands Cannabis Coffeeshops RE-OPEN

The NL Govt has reversed yesterday's shut down to allow take-out sales (off-sales) - but not consumption on premises.

nos.nl/l/2327298

1/

The change of heart follows a letter to the NL Cabinet from a group of Mayors concerned about the impact of the 3 week mandatory shutdown on street crime & illegal dealing

Minutes after the announcement yesterday long queues had formed outside Coffeeshops

#stockpiling
2/

Widely shared mobile footage showed Amsterdam's famously entrepreneurial whatsapp cannabis dealers giving out their numbers to the people in the coffeeshop queues.

The market wouldn't disappear. It would simply move into a completely unregulated space

3/

Looking at some WhatsApp dealer price listening circulated also suggests they were ramping up prices to exploit the surge in illegal mkt demand immediately following the shutdown.

20Euros a gram is a very high price for Amsterdam

4/

As suggested yesterday - letting the shops stay open for off-sales only seemed like the obvious solution.

Its welcome that NL Govt quickly accepted that a shutdown would be counterproductive (even if nominally sensible / well-intentioned) and reversed course.

5/

The current shut down is for three weeks but realistically it could go on for 3 months or more.

Allowing some form of coffeeshop delivery service seems like another option to explore?

6/end

More coverage of the mayor's request to NL Government for coffeeshops to be allowed take-out sales: m.binnenlandsbestuur.nl/nieuws/burgeme…