DutchNews.nl, Thursday 16
October 2014
 |
| (NOS) |
The couple,
aged 49 and 39, come from Bierum in Groningen province and have been arrested
several times for marijuana production.
They say
that by using legal electricity, paying tax and having no criminal connections
show that marijuana can be grown without problems. The Netherlands turns a
blind eye to the consumption of small amounts of marijuana sold through
licenced coffee shops but production remains illegal.
Honesty
In its
ruling, the court said the couple had always been honest in their dealings with
police and justice ministry officials and had acted in the spirit of Dutch soft
drugs legislation with regard to public health and public safety. In addition,
they had only supplied local council licenced coffee shops.
'The fact
that the sale of soft drugs through coffee shops is turned a blind eye to
implies that coffee shops are supplied and that [the marijuana] has to be
grown,' the court said. The official policy, the court continued, 'does not
address how this should happen.'
The public
prosecution department said the verdict is 'interesting' and will study it
further. It had called for community service sentences of 180 and 120 hours.
Justice
minister Ivo Opstelten, who is opposed to legalised marijuana production, said
the verdict was 'surprising' but made no further comment.
The couple
have been growing marijuana since 2009 and have been busted several times. So
far police have seized 2,500 plants, 900 cuttings and 8 kilos of marijuana from
their plantations.
Related Articles:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.