End for Amsterdam’s magic mushrooms

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5254351.ece

November 29, 2008
End of a good spell for Amsterdam’s magic mushrooms
Farmers face ruin as Amsterdam alters image
David Charter, Europe Correspondent

It was mind-expanding for many while it lasted, but the trip is finally over: a last-minute attempt to stop a ban on magic mushrooms failed yesterday as the Netherlands sought to reverse its reputation for hedonism, which attracts drug tourists from around the world.

City authorities in Amsterdam are bracing themselves for a weekend of hallucinogenic bingeing as dozens of so-called “smart shops” that specialise in fresh psychedelic mushrooms sell off their stock before the trade becomes illegal on Monday.

The Dutch Government has adopted a stricter stance on issues such as soft drugs and prostitution, as well as immigration, since the elections in 2006, which were held amid a backlash against tolerant attitudes.

The demise of the magic mushroom follows plans in Amsterdam to close 40 cannabis cafés – known as coffee shops – because they are too close to schools and to shut scores of prostitute shop windows.

For the mushroom growers and vendors who failed to get an injunction against the Government yesterday, a whole way of life will be lost.

Freddy Schaap, 36, who grows 25 tonnes of “shrooms” a year at a farm in Tiel, in central Netherlands, said that he faced financial ruin. “For 30 years we have had this liberal way of doing things here but this Government just wants to ban everything,” he said. “We sell fresh mushrooms that you can recognise, that you can get information about. But if you have to buy from a dealer in the street, nobody Schaap is chairman of the industry association VLOS, which said that there were six growers in the Netherlands, 180 smart shops and a few hundred employees in an industry with an annual turnover of about €20 million (£16 million). The industry grew rapidly after 2002 when a Dutch court banned the sale of dried mushrooms but confirmed the legal status of the freshly grown product because of a loophole. While the active ingredient, psilocybin, was illegal, it could not be measured in the fresh fungi.

Smart shops sell 189 varieties, for €20m €12 to €15, mostly to British tourists. knows what they are getting.” Mr “The use of mushrooms gives you insight, it should be part of growing up. It is a nice experience,” said Mr Schaap. “People experience it positively – it is something you should do two or three times in your life.”

The Government cracked down after a 17-year-old French girl jumped to her death from a window last year while suffering hallucinations. Her parents blamed magic mushrooms, although she was also known to have had psychiatric problems.

The industry argues that the case has been unfairly used to target them, since many more people die from the effects of alcohol and cigarettes. Ab Klink, the Dutch Heath Minister, confirmed the ban, saying that hallucinogenic mushrooms “can lead to unpredictable and risky behaviour”.

Bart, 45, the owner of three smart shops, including the long-established Kokopelli in Amsterdam’s red-light district, said that he would try to adjust by selling more herbal remedies and supplements – but he was not optimistic. “This is a disaster,” he said. “The shops are quite big, with lots of products, but the thing that makes a smart shop a smart shop is lots of mushrooms.”