Nitrous oxide will become a controlled substance under the Opium Act in the Netherlands to curb the growing use of the chemical compound more commonly known as laughing gas. The substance will be added to the "List II" classification under the law, alongside drugs like hashish, diazepam, lorazepam and butabarbital, the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport said in a statement.
opium act
Jul 3 '19 09:31
While the use of drugs is not punishable in the Netherlands under the Opium Act, more and more municipalities are banning drug use in public spaces. So far 218 of the 355 Dutch municipalities implemented a total ban on drug use in public space such as parks, streets and public buildings, by adding the ban to their General Local Regulations, NOS reports based on its own research.
Aug 8 '17 08:37
A 40-year-old man from Boxtel was arrested at Schiphol airport on Saturday. The man still has to serve a 10 year long prison sentence imposed on him for a drug crime, the Koninklijke Marechaussee announced on Monday.
The man arrived at the airport on a flight from Canada. When a Marechaussee officer checked him, the officer realized that the man is wanted by the authorities for an outstanding prison sentence of 3,650 days.
Sep 15 '16 13:25
National Ombudsman Reinier van Zutphen is studying the case of Tilburg coffeeshop owner Johan van Laarhoven, who is currently serving a 103 year prison sentence in Thailand. The Ombudsman wants to find out how the Dutch judiciary handled his case and make sure that everything was done carefully and properly
Aug 9 '16 10:22
The police arrested a total of eight people on Monday in the investigation into the assassination of Sven Prince in Heerlen last year. Three of these detainees are suspected of involvement in the assassination, one of violating the weapons and ammunition act and the other four were found with narcotics during home searches, the police said in a statement.
Jun 6 '16 11:55
The police seized about 120 cars from a car dealership in Almelo on Monday as part of an ongoing investigation into organized cannabis cultivation, the police said in a statement.
May 6 '16 08:28
Two people were arrested in Amsterdam Nieuw West on Wednesday after the police found four plastic bags full of cannabis under the hood of their car, the police reported on Thursday.
Mar 23 '16 12:54
The police are increasingly finding empty whipped cream canisters where young people hang out. Young people use the nitrous oxide in the canisters to get high, which could lead to brain damage, infertility, impotence or neurological disorders in the long term, according to the police.
Mar 4 '16 09:12
The only effect the new Opium Act had is that coffeeshops are now getting more cannabis from abroad. The major illegal cannabis cultivators did not stop their activities, they simply moved them to outside the Netherlands, BNR reports based on information from several experts and people from the soft drugs industry.
Jun 23 '15 07:58
The government put cannabis cultivation equipment, similar to equipment recently confiscated by the police, up for sale in an auction in April. This includes equipment such as carbon filters, extraction systems and a grow tent - items that grow shops are not allowed to sell since the legislative amendment that took effect on March 1st
May 28 '15 09:59
According to Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan, it is currently legally impossible to start with an experiment on regulated cannabis cultivation. But he promises to continue to work hard in The Hague for permission to perform such an experiment.
May 18 '15 12:59
With the summer holiday around the corner pharmacists are warning vacationers to not accidentally become drug smugglers. Some medications fall under the Opium Act and can get a vacation goer into a lot of trouble if taken across the border without a valid medical certificate, which has to be handed in four weeks prior to departure.
Apr 17 '15 13:10
The police found 45 kilograms of heroin by chance after a small car accident in Breda on Wednesday night. The officers arrested a 34 year old man from Vlaardingen on suspicion of violation of the Opium act.
Mar 31 '15 11:08
The police raided 55 grow shops this past month after the legislation change that criminalizes the preparatory acts for cannabis cultivation, AD reports. The police will continue to tackle those who trade in materials used for cannabis cultivation in the coming months.
Mar 2 '15 09:34
Grow shops are illegal in the Netherlands from today, as a result of an amendment to the Opium Act which takes effect today.
Feb 24 '15 08:44
The police, municipalities and judiciary will soon be tackling grow shops that sell things needed for illegal cannabis growing, the Volkskrant reports.
Oct 22 '14 13:22
On Monday night the police stopped a car in Maastricht for a traffic control check and found a large amount of money.
Aug 27 '14 13:30
Police have uncovered 4.9 kilos of the illicit narcotic heroin during the search of a building in Rotterdam on Tuesday evening. No suspects have been arrested.
Feb 8 '14 04:30
The round-up of some of this week’s most noteworthy events and news stories features police finding 750 kg of Khat in several busts, Philips employees threatened over weed lamps, Timmermans calling attention to arrested plane spotters in UAE, a Dutch journalist who escaped from Egypt, Dutch to investigate a whale wars collision, and Rabobank not selling part of their American business.
Feb 1 '14 04:31
In the 24-hour period from Wednesday morning, January 29, to the following Thursday morning, the police managed to cease 750kg of Khat in three different busts.
