Ecstasy

Between 2012 and 2016 alcohol consumption in Amsterdam decreased, but the use of hard drugs like ecstasy, cocaine and amphetamine increased, health service GGD revealed in its Amsterdam Health Monitor 2016, Het Parool reports.

For the Health Monitor te GGD questioned over 8,600 Amsterdam residents between the ages of 19 and 64 years about their physical and psychological health, daily habits and health care. The service then compared the results to a similar study done in 2012 and 2008. 

Two people were hospitalized and one arrested in a brawl in Druten on Pentecost Sunday.  Three others were arrested for brawling at a dance event in Breda, the police announced in statements on Monday.

Arnhem residents will have the opportunity to test their ecstasy pills for free on King's Night, Wednesday April 26th. IrisZorg is setting up an ecstasy testing station on Ir. JP van Muijlwijkstraat 195 where drug users can make sure that their ecstasy is safe, the Gelderlander reports.

The drug testers will use the outer features of a pill - diameter, thickness, color, logo - and an acid test to check whether the pill is on the recognized list. The list contains pills that have been analyzed by a lab several times over the past period. It updates weekly. 

Former CDA treasurer in Leende Wim van der P. was remanded into custody for at least another month by the court in Den Bosch on Thursday. He is suspected of involvement in a massive drug lab found in a building on his property last month, the Telegraaf reports.

The main suspect arrested in connection with a large drug lab discovered in the Brabant town of Leende last week was identified as Wim van der P., according to newspaper AD. Until last week Friday he was treasurer of the CDA faction Heeze Leende Sterksel.

According to the newspaper, he was dismissed as treasurer on Friday. Both CDA alderman Wilma van der Rijst and faction chairman Peter Vertogen refused to comment on the matter.

Stinky white smoke curling from a chimney led to the discovery of an ecstasy lab in Eindhoven on Sunday.

Passersby noticed the smoke on Rapenlandstraat and called the police around 10:00 a.m. Officers and firefighters agreed that the smelly smoke was suspicious and decided to search the building. Inside they found a large ecstasy lab in "full operation", according to the police. No one was in the building while it was searched.

An internationally sought drug dealer was arrested while shopping for groceries in Tilburg this weekend. The 38-year-old man is believed to be part of the mafia and was arrested at the request of the Italian authorities, NOS reports.

The Italian authorities suspect the man of heading an organization that traffics drugs - cocaine and ecstasy in particular - on Sardinia. He has both Dutch and Italian nationality and has been internationally wanted since spring last year. The man can face up to 24 years in jail in Italy.

Two young girls from Zwanenburg, who were hospitalized on Monday after the took pills they found on the street, are doing "reasonably well", the police said in a statemetn. They are both still in the hospital, the mother of one of the girls said to RTV Noord-Holland. 

The families of the two kids, 12-year-old Luca and 11-year-old Lina, were informed that their children took ecstasy, the mother Donata said to AD. She added that both girls are conscious and communicating. 

The Public Prosecutor is in favor of extraditing Turkish drug smuggler Ayhan S. back to his home country, despite the political unrest currently going on in the country, he said in the court in Amsterdam on Thursday

An autopsy done on the body of a tourist which was found in an Amsterdam hotel last weekend showed that the woman died of water intoxication, a police spokesperson confirmed to the Telegraaf.

The drug 4FA, also known as ecstasy light, is seeing an increase in popularity in the Netherlands. More and more drug users are opting for this lighter drug because of the increasing potency of ecstasy, Daan van der Gouwe of the Trimbos Institute said