Global Ganja Report

Police in Amsterdam are complaining about new rules barring them from smoking cannabis while off duty. Officers in the Dutch capital, famous for its tolerant drug policy, have been told they must set the public "a good moral example." The ban, due to take effect on Jan. 1, will make the force the first in the Netherlands to bar officers from indulging while not at work.

Frank Gittay, the city's police council chairman, said: "Until now police were only banned from showing up for work stoned or drunk. But now we are telling officers they should also behave like the police at all times. That means not taking drugs and not getting excessively drunk whether on or off duty."

Countered Dutch police union chairman Hans van Duijn: "Many of our members are opposed to this. They are not paid for 24 hours a day. What they do in their free time is up to them." (Daily Mail, Dec. 12)

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