Amsterdam mayor calls for regulation of cocaine as crime thrives

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema has called for the regulation of the sale and use of cocaine to undermine the economics of criminal enterprises that she said are racking up “billions” in profit.

The mayor, who has also sought to curtail drug-seeking vacationers from visiting the Dutch capital city, has organized a public debate on the matter on Jan. 26 in Amsterdam.

“Let us conclude that hundreds of years of discouragement and repression have achieved very little,” Halsema said in an interview with Dutch newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad. “Apparently people have a need for stimulants. There is a market for that.”