http://www.hightimes.com/News/2001_01/europot.tpl BELGIUM ANNOUNCES PLANS TO DECRIMINALIZE POT USE FILED 01/25/01 "I fully expect decriminalization to pass, as it has the support of the Prime Minister and the six main political parties," says Belgian MP Vincent Van Quickenborne. He's promised to light up in Parliament when it does. Belgium announced its intention to decriminalize personal marijuana use and cultivation on January 19. Those over the age of 18 will only face legal sanctions if their use is "problematic," creates public disturbances or endangers others. Proposed by Flemish Green Party member Health Minister Magda Aelvoet, the legislation has the full backing of Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and his cabinet. The issue will go before the Belgian House in mid-February, then on to the Senate, with a vote expected by the entire Parliament by mid-June. "I think it is a good decision," MP Vincent Van Quickenborne, a member of the Flemish liberal Volksunie (People's Union) Party, told HT. "I fully expect decriminalization to pass, as it has the support of the Prime Minister and the six main political parties." Van Quickenborne, 27, campaigned in 1999 promising not only to work for a change in the marijuana laws, but to light up in the Parliament chambers upon final passage of decriminalization. He still plans to do so, having taken part in the reform efforts, but he stressed some reservations about the proposal which still need to be hammered out. "Problematic use is use a person cannot control, but who will decide this? The police. They are not formed for this. They haven't the knowledge." Van Quickenborne also has some decidedly radical ideas about the issue. "The presumption that the use of pot by someone under 18 is 'problematic' troubles me. I think it is stupid to confront 16-to-18-year-olds with sanctions, sending them to a clinic or something, for smoking cannabis. Our main goal is to differentiate between hard and soft drugs." Another problem he sees is that the quantity considered "personal use" remains undefined. "We plan to fix the amount of cannabis to 15 grams in pocket, and to five plants," he says. "The proposal is still too vague. What is personal use? Someone could say they have five years' supply for personal use, so this will be debated and determined before the vote." Van Quickenborne points out that while Holland has an open system of decriminalization in place with its famous coffeeshops, other European countries currently have de facto decrim policies. Switzerland, Portugal, Spain and Germany have all made marijuana use a low priority for law enforcement. France, Britain, Sweden and Norway still follow US War on Pot policies. "Belgium is headed for the European Presidency in the second half of 2001," Van Quickenborne told HT. "I expect European marijuana and soft drugs policies will be discussed again." by -Preston Peet, Special to HighWitness News ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-~> <FONT COLOR="#000099">eGroups is now Yahoo! Groups Click here for more details </FONT><A HREF="http://click.egroups.com/1/11231/0/_/475667/_/980964764/"><B>Click Here!</B></A> ---------------------------------------------------------------------_-> Please let us stay on topic and be civil. To unsubscribe please go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs -Home Page- www.cia-drugs.org OM
