(Newswire.net — May 19, 2015) — While pot lovers in other countries fight for the right to use marijuana in medicinal purpose, activists from Amsterdam opened an Ecstasy shop, Russia Today reported.
The youth wing of the Dutch Liberal Democrats argue decriminalizing MDMA drugs “would make drug-taking safer.”
Though it was just for one day, the Young Democrats drew the attention of the media and public on Monday by opening the shop at 10 Rosmarijnsteed.
The group represents the youth of the largest political party in the Netherlands. Their goal is to decriminalize the ‘youth drug’ as the country did with marijuana, arguing that it will reduce the number of users.
“We don’t want to look the other way and say repression is the best option because it just not true,” Young Democrats international officer Milan Asseis said, according to Deephouseamsterdam.com. “If you look at marijuana use, the Netherlands is by far the country without the most users. This says that legalization doesn’t mean people start using more of a drug,” Asseis said.
“Legalization creates less criminality, safer pills, and keeps the drug out of the hands of minors,” Asseis said, adding that there is 40,000 people who use ecstasy on a monthly basis. Users acquire Ecstasy on the black market, from illegal street dealers.
Asseis argued that there is less control of MDMA percentage in Ecstasy pills that may even be deadly to some uninformed users. Legalizing MDMA would result in greater quality control of the product that would be much safer for users.
“We can prevent minors from buying, make sure there is no overdose [due to] pills and educate people on ways to minimize the risks involved with ecstasy usage,” the Young Democrats’ website says.
Sadly to ones who hoped for a party, the shop still has to respect the law, so it’ll be handing out placebos, not real MDMA pills, RT reported.
“You should stop with criminalizing it and start legalizing it and that’s what we’re showing here,” Dirkjan Tijs, President of the Young Democrats, told Ruptly.
According to the activists, the most common causes of Ecstasy-related deaths including the fake MDMA pills are, overdoses of the drug, or a dangerous mix with substances that mimic the effects of euphoria, but are not meant for ingestion.