For the mayor of Amsterdam, «By criminalizing supply and demand, we are only helping the criminal market».»

At the initiative of the Dutch Minister of Justice, Dilan Yeşilgöz, 6 European ministries met in Amsterdam around Mayor Femke Halsema. Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, which have formed a coalition to fight organized crime, discussed the fight against drug-related organized crime.

At the event, the mayor of Amsterdam told the visiting Belgian, French, German, Italian and Spanish ministers that the «war on drugs» was not working, and that she was convinced that the legalization and market regulation were the only solution.

«By criminalizing supply and demand, we're only helping the criminal market,» said Halsema, who is committed to cracking down on the criminal coffeeshop supply chain and is convinced that banning tourists would be effective.

«The regulation of tobacco and alcohol has shown that it is possible to control the market for dangerous products, while reducing the damage to health. To be honest, deep down I'm convinced that the best result for our society can be achieved by decriminalizing cocaine and regulating the market».

«The idea of legalize drugs was an interesting point of discussion,» Yeşilgöz said after the meeting. «But the fact is that the market for more than 90 % of the drug that comes into the Netherlands is not [destined for our market]. It's a philosophical discussion, a theoretical discussion and it could be a political discussion - but if you do it as a country, say the Netherlands, then you've tackled your share of crime, but the market is not here.».

«This kind of discussion only has an effect if it's global, and it's not. The problem we have is so big and so urgent that I'd rather focus on what we can do than on what we can't do much about.».

A further meeting of ministers is scheduled for spring 2023 in Antwerp.