ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 4, 1996 TAG: 9609040121
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: BUSSUM, NETHERLANDS
SOURCE: Associated Press
NOTE: Below
Just past the Christian youth center and over by the paint store is this suburban community's answer to the drug problem: The City Hall-sponsored marijuana shop.
In an effort to keep dope smokers off the streets and away from hard-drug dealers, this town of about 31,000 near Amsterdam opted to take control of the marijuana trade by going into the business.
Elsewhere in the Netherlands, marijuana is legally sold in privately owned coffee shops. In Amsterdam alone, about 380 such shops operate.
In Bussum, there's only the Pyramid - likely the most reluctant social service Bussum's city leaders ever started.
But as city spokesman Peter Vermeulen said: ``Why close your eyes to the fact that some 18-year-olds use soft drugs?
``The drugs trade does exist and it's unbeatable, I'm afraid,'' he said. ``We try to fight against hard drugs with all our means, but soft drugs is another matter.''
The Dutch consider marijuana and hashish ``soft drugs'' because they're considered less addictive than ``hard drugs'' such as heroin and cocaine.
Inside the Pyramid, two teen-agers surveyed the menu, which runs from a mild Moroccan hashish to a more potent variety that'll take you ``out of this world,'' one employee declared.
Spike-haired Danny Koghee is one of the Pyramid's regulars.
``They have good quality stuff here,'' the 24-year-old unemployed Koghee said as he rolled joints.
Up to 300 customers visit the Pyramid every day, spending between $6 and $12 - rock-bottom prices in the Western world - for a gram of marijuana or hashish.
Bussum's success with the Pyramid has prompted other towns to consider similar ventures to fight the spread of hard drugs. Authorities in Delfzijl, a northern harbor town of similar size, are spending $294,000 to open their own shop this month.
Bussum decided to take the jump in 1991 when city leaders became alarmed at the hard drug trade slipping into town on the back of soft drug-dealing in bars. The town had no coffee shop. So authorities organized a foundation and got a $90,000 loan to open one.
``This way it's in our hands: We see it, we can steer it and direct it in the way we want it,'' city spokesman Vermeulen said.
City Hall has little involvement with the Pyramid, Vermeulen said, although Mayor Wim Holthuizen periodically meets store manager Willem Panders to make sure the shop keeps to the rules: no hard drugs, no sales to minors and no sales over 5 grams, about one-fifth of an ounce.
Profits pay off the loan and the salaries of the counselors who staff the shop. They also fund education programs on drug use.
Panders concedes the Pyramid ``is kind of hypocritical. But if you tell kids, `Don't use drugs,' they will still do it. A prohibitive policy doesn't work.''
Both he and the city say the Pyramid not only keeps youths out of the clutches of hard drug dealers, it provides a safe place for them to experiment with soft drugs.
``Our message is: Do it with moderation and think about what you are doing,'' Panders said.
But most customers said they come for the dope, not the advice.
Dutch law technically prohibits both soft and hard drugs. But possession of small amounts for personal use is a nonprosecutable offense, and authorities wink at traffickers who supply the officially sanctioned shops.
Amsterdam officials say they'd never follow Bussum's example.
``No way whatsoever. In Amsterdam we believe in a repressive policy. We will not subsidize coffee shops in order to keep them under control,'' City Hall spokesman Richard Lancee said.
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. An unidentified staff member lights up at theby CNBPyramid. color.