cannabisnews.com: Dutch MJ More Expensive as Police Raids Rise





Dutch MJ More Expensive as Police Raids Rise
Posted by CN Staff on October 02, 2007 at 08:45:10 PT
By Joana Quintanilha
Source: Bloomberg.com 
Europe -- The price of Dutch marijuana has increased 20 percent this year because the supply is being curbed by a rise in police raids on hemp plantations. The effectiveness of one gram of Dutch-grown marijuana also has decreased by 1.5 percent, according to an e-mailed statement from the Trimbos Institute, a Dutch group that studies drug addiction and treatments. The level of THC, the compound that gives cannabis its potency, fell to 16 percent from 17.5 percent last year.
It is the first time that the price of Dutch marijuana has risen since the institute started keeping a record of hemp prices in 1999. One gram of marijuana, grown in the Netherlands, costs 7.30 euros ($10.30) currently. A decrease in supply of Dutch hemp and higher prices could be causing some marijuana producers to mix the cannabis with compounds such as sand and glass pearls, the statement said. The Institute didn't find evidence that hemp sold in Dutch coffee shops has been mixed with other compounds. Imported cannabis was 5.4 percent weaker than a year ago, according to the statement. The price of imported marijuana also increased this year, by about 40 cents per gram. Earlier this year, police in Rotterdam said they'd shut down 600 indoor marijuana farms since 2005. There are about 6,000 active producers in the city. Dutch officials have stepped up raids on an estimated 40,000 indoor hemp plantations, which cause two fires a month in Rotterdam by tapping into power lines for lights that feed their crops. The crackdown is making it harder to supply marijuana shops with the Super Skunk and Purple Haze their customers crave in a country that decriminalized use of the drug in 1976. Complete Title: Dutch Marijuana Becomes More Expensive as Police Raids Rise To contact the reporter on this story: Joana Quintanilha in Amsterdam at:  quintanilha bloomberg.net Source: Bloomberg.com (Europe)Author: Joana QuintanilhaPublished: October 2, 2007Copyright: 2007 Bloomberg L.P. Contact: quintanilha bloomberg.net Website: http://www.bloomberg.com/CannabisNews -- Cannabis Archiveshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/list/cannabis.shtml
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Comment #5 posted by whig on October 10, 2007 at 22:59:44 PT
Bad trips
Oh well.
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Comment #4 posted by whig on October 10, 2007 at 22:58:49 PT
FoM
It sounds like, "Mommy, I'm skeered! Please make the bad mushrooms go away!"
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Comment #3 posted by FoM on October 10, 2007 at 18:19:50 PT
Amsterdam's Magic Mushroom Tourists May Trip 
Amsterdam's Magic Mushroom Tourists May Trip on Sales Crackdown By Jeroen MolenaarOct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Paul arrived in Amsterdam looking forward to a weekend with his friends. Instead, the 24-year-old Australian stayed holed up in his hotel room, too frightened to walk the streets after taking magic mushrooms. ``We had to lock ourselves up in case we would do something crazy,'' said Paul, who asked that his last name not be used because he didn't want acquaintances to know about his drug use. ``There is no way this should be legal.'' In Amsterdam, where the fungi are sold in so-called smart shops, local officials agree. The city council last month approved a three-day waiting period to cut down on tourist use. The national government is considering an outright ban after a French teenager leapt to her death in March. Health Minister Ab Klink will release a statement on the hallucinogens this week. The move is the latest effort to curtail the drug and sex trade in the Netherlands after Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende in February formed a new government with a Christian majority. Amsterdam last month agreed to fund the purchase of storefronts where prostitutes work, paving the way for developers to turn them into shops, offices and apartments. Complete Article: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a7foG.ezGlcA&refer=europe
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Comment #2 posted by rchandar on October 02, 2007 at 10:29:21 PT:
SamAdams
I don't think it's much to worry about. This has actually been known for some time--maybe 2 years. I wouldn't believe that soon they'll be selling any schwag in the shops. The imported hash is still good, by all accounts, though it is pricey.They've had this "crackdown" s#$t going on in the press for the past 10 years. Every year they publish a government statement about how many growhouses they've busted, but it isn't news because the penalties are so light they would make a grower here cry. It isn't gone, not to worry. And the glass and sand stuff? DO NOT WORRY; look at uk420.com & coffeshopdirect.com; a lot of Europeans got real pissed about it and said so to the Dutch government. No, I'd say you should still go.
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Comment #1 posted by Sam Adams on October 02, 2007 at 09:10:34 PT
worship of The State
Will there ever be a day when the media will stop groveling at the feet of the political class?How about this headline "Police waste $89 million tax dollars on cannabis raids"
Subtitle: "Alcohol and tobacco commerce ignored"
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