Senior research scientist Nicole Maalsté of the University of Tilburg argues that the government should once again focus on the main argument for the policy of tolerance regarding cannabis use: guaranteeing the health of the consumer.

She rejects the current cabinet’s stricter policies as ‘window dressing’ and urges the cabinet to adopt a more constructive approach to find real solutions.

Ms Maalsté has repeatedly taken a stand against the ease with which the police, the public prosecutors’ office and also politicians use ‘incorrect figures and assumptions not based on the real situation’ to prove that coffee shops are a threat to social security and that the policy of tolerance should be scrapped.