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Interesting that so many fellow Dutch people being surprised "that kind of stuff can happen over here". They seem to forget we're the main worldwide exporter of

Interesting that so many fellow Dutch people being surprised "that kind of stuff can happen over here". They seem to forget we're the main worldwide exporter of XTC and a huge distributor for other drugs.

AQuantized 6y ago
I don't think people would be surprised for the Netherlands to be associated with drugs, but would be more so for violent crime.
- luckylion 6y ago
  Which in itself is surprising as the drug business is very much associated with violent crime.
- himlion 6y ago
  I should have made it more clear I indeed mean the association with the violent crime. the sentiment I've heard a lot is people see the drugs as a business and the violent, ruthless sides of it are something that mostly happens in Latin America like you see on "Narcos".
  - mercer 6y ago
    Interesting. Nobody I know is surprised by this stuff. Maybe it's because we're in the Randstad area and aware of the strings of liquidations that have been happening in Amsterdam? Not to mention the recent high-profile arrest of Taghi who grew up near Utrecht.
jacquesm 6y ago
To your point: https://www.nu.nl/binnenland/6056224/politie-ontdekt-drugslab-in-gelders-herwijnen-drie-mannen-aangehouden.html https://www.nu.nl/binnenland/6056224/politie-ontdekt-drugsla... More and more Latin American criminals directly involved here as well. If anybody is still surprised about this they haven't been paying much attention the last decade or two.
cranekam 6y ago
All fallout from the war on drugs. I wish lawmakers would see that prohibition does nothing to curb drug production and use. It just pushes everything underground where a vast market is controlled by ruthless gangs who think nothing of torture and murder. We should accept that a) humans have used drugs for millennia and hoping this will just stop is hopelessly naive, b) invest in actually helping people who’re struggling with addiction instead of criminalising them. Also, as a bonus, c) explore medical uses for substances currently banned. </soapbox>
- ColanR 6y ago
  > humans have used drugs for millennia That's ignoring the modern refinement of drugs into far more powerful substances than they were even 50 years ago.
  - cranekam 6y ago
    Well, we can't reverse that now. We need to find other ways to deal with it because what we're doing now is failing everyone.
  - heavenlyblue 6y ago
    Modern medical grade heroin doesn’t not contain a single portion of fentanyl which is already a good example of how safe the progress made the drug.

AQuantized 6y ago

I don't think people would be surprised for the Netherlands to be associated with drugs, but would be more so for violent crime.

luckylion 6y ago
Which in itself is surprising as the drug business is very much associated with violent crime.
himlion 6y ago
I should have made it more clear I indeed mean the association with the violent crime. the sentiment I've heard a lot is people see the drugs as a business and the violent, ruthless sides of it are something that mostly happens in Latin America like you see on "Narcos".
- mercer 6y ago
  Interesting. Nobody I know is surprised by this stuff. Maybe it's because we're in the Randstad area and aware of the strings of liquidations that have been happening in Amsterdam? Not to mention the recent high-profile arrest of Taghi who grew up near Utrecht.

jacquesm 6y ago

To your point: https://www.nu.nl/binnenland/6056224/politie-ontdekt-drugslab-in-gelders-herwijnen-drie-mannen-aangehouden.html https://www.nu.nl/binnenland/6056224/politie-ontdekt-drugsla... More and more Latin American criminals directly involved here as well. If anybody is still surprised about this they haven't been paying much attention the last decade or two.

cranekam 6y ago

All fallout from the war on drugs. I wish lawmakers would see that prohibition does nothing to curb drug production and use. It just pushes everything underground where a vast market is controlled by ruthless gangs who think nothing of torture and murder. We should accept that a) humans have used drugs for millennia and hoping this will just stop is hopelessly naive, b) invest in actually helping people who’re struggling with addiction instead of criminalising them. Also, as a bonus, c) explore medical uses for substances currently banned. </soapbox>

ColanR 6y ago
> humans have used drugs for millennia That's ignoring the modern refinement of drugs into far more powerful substances than they were even 50 years ago.
- cranekam 6y ago
  Well, we can't reverse that now. We need to find other ways to deal with it because what we're doing now is failing everyone.
- heavenlyblue 6y ago
  Modern medical grade heroin doesn’t not contain a single portion of fentanyl which is already a good example of how safe the progress made the drug.