In response to the current plans for limiting the right to buy cannabis to Dutch residents, and other related restrictions, a series of debates are taking place throughout the Netherlands during February and March. Beginning tomorrow (05/02) at the Cannabis College in Amsterdam, the Cannabis Debates are open to everyone over the age of 18 and attendance (14:00 to 17:00) is free.

Workable Cannabis Policy
The Cannabis Debates are organized by the VOC (lit. Society for the Abolition of Cannabis Prohibition) and THC (Taskforce for Cannabis Management), an independent work-group including members of the National Platform of Coffeeshop Unions (LOC) and the VOC. Their aim is to present a workable and well supported alternative to the potentially disastrous schemes favoured by the Cabinet.

This alternative is a clear and regulated management of cannabis, including growing, for personal use and would effectively remove the ‘back-door’ criminality from the ‘front-door’ legal sales. The contradiction between illegal wholesale supply and decriminalized personal supply is the root of the problems with the tolerance policy, caused not by going ‘too far’ as many politicians seem to think, but by not going far enough.

Be part of the Cannabis Debates
The management concept presented by THC sets out a practical and safe system for regulating the cannabis trade and is entitled ‘Van Gedogen Naar Handhaven’ (‘From Tolerance To Management’). Contributions and suggestions are welcome from everyone who attends the debates (please bear in mind that the main language will be Dutch). Considering that the Tweede Kamer began their own debate on moving from cannabis tolerance to zero tolerance exactly a year ago today, the Cannabis Debates offer an essential opportunity to find a saner solution that must not be missed.

Other debate dates:

Zaterdag 26 februari:
Coffeeshop The Pink, Willemstraat 35, Eindhoven

Zaterdag 5 maart:
Koffieshop De Os, Korfmakersstraat 2, Leeuwarden

Maandag 21 maart:
Live 330 / Cremers, Korte Molenstraat 2, Den Haag

Source: VOC Nederland, Zaterdag 5 februari eerste cannabis debat in amsterdam

Industrial Hemp Revolution

When he began HempFlax in 1993, the proud Dutch tradition of hemp farming had lain dormant for half a century. Specialized hemp harvesting and processing machinery was designed, developed and patented by HempFlax, beginning an industrial hemp revolution. Ben and his dedicated team single-handedly revived the Dutch  market for hemp.

Smoking Bunnies

Some of the products even caused amusement:  jokes circulated about bunnies getting stoned on their hemp fibre bedding. Over two decades later, Ben is the one having the last laugh. HempFlax now harvests and processes 2400 hectares (5930 acres) per year. The fibre and hurds are used by major companies such as BMW, and the Queen of England’s horses are stabled on HempFlax bedding (along with thousands of happy bunnies throughout Europe).

Hemp Research Continues

Ben’s take on what really makes HempFlax special is that the whole production chain, from sowing to marketing, is geared towards optimum environmental benefit, use and application of this astonishing resource. The research and development into hemp’s vast potential to offer us a sustainable future continues.

Smoking Buddies

The Jack Herer Awards began in 2004  to honour exceptional achievement in hemp activism. The Award Ceremony takes place on October 7^th, and this year will feature a tribute to Jack himself, dearly missed by the cannabis community worldwide after his passing earlier this year. Jack and Ben were close friends, and in 2005 Ben presented Jack with the Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum’s annual Cannabis Culture Award (Cannabis Cultuur Prijs) to honour and applaud Jack’s great part in the cannabis crusade. It is easy to imagine Jack appreciating, with a smile, his smoking buddy’s nomination for a Jack Herer Award.

The overall winner was Skunk #1, from Sensi Seeds. This was also the winner in the categories Presence (appearance) and taste. The plant was grown outdoors (in a pot) from April till early October, and she was feed with “Organic Bloom and loads of love, at the mountains of Guadalajara”.

The second and third prize went to respectivly Shark Attack and Critical +.

The Cannabis Cultuurprijs 2009, now in its sixth year, is presented to individuals who have made significant contributions towards the acceptance of cannabis in all its forms and to the reintegration of marihuana and hemp culture into modern society.

At a time when ‘zero tolerance’ is replacing the ‘tolerance policy’ it is more important than ever to acknowledge those who have made a genuine difference to the perception and use of this unfairly maligned plant.

Though other prizes exist in the sphere of cannabis and hemp, only the Cannabis Cultuurprijs celebrates improvements to quality of life and knowledge in quite this way.

The prize itself promotes the achievements of the winner: a unique exhibit dedicated to each one is created for public viewing. Displays honoring previous winners Jack Herer and Ed Rosenthal are on show in the Hash Marihuana & Hemp Museum. Last year’s winner, the late Simon Vinkenoog, is represented in the Hemp Gallery.

A monetary award of ?3000 is also presented. The prize is annually awarded in November. It is independently funded and therefore free from political influence.