The Netherlands Tries to Crack Down on Crime … Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen, “We Only Want to Get Rid of Some of the Prostitution”

Amsterdam: Prostitution + Drugs = Crime

What a novel conclusion that the Mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, has come to after all this time. Prostitution and the sale of drugs has an underlying criminal element. No S%#t Sherlock! Really? Thus, Amsterdam is looking to take a bite out of crime and close down many of the attractions that made its “RED LIGHT” district an attraction to many. But are they really? How does one only take a little bite out of crime in fear of harming tourism? Sound familiar?

Amsterdam is set to lose a large chunk of its red light district, after the forced sale of a third of the buildings currently used for prostitution.

With its scantily-clad prostitutes posing in brothel windows and coffee shops oozing the pungent aroma of cannabis smoke, the red light district’s seediness has always been part of its attraction.

But the district is a magnet for petty criminals and, authorities believe, human traffickers, drug lords and mobsters – who take advantage of the situation to launder money.

Talk about wanting your cake and eating it too. Mayor Job Cohen only wishes to get rid of the criminality and not all of the prostitution, only some of it. Who exactly decides what prostitution is OK and what is not? It would appear that Mayor Cohen is stuck between that proverbial rock. He wants to get rid of some crime and prostitution, yet tourism from prostitution and liberal drug use is a booming business. After all, Amsterdam is known for is Red Light district and prostitutes. Hell, they gave a prostitutes a statue.

“What we do want is to get rid of the underlying criminality,” said Cohen.

He insisted however that he didn’t want to get rid of prostitution entirely, since it is part of the area’s history and a major tourist draw for the city.

What does one think will happen when they make prostitution legal and the sale and use of drugs OK? Do not let anyone ever tell you that the legalization of prostitution and drugs is a good thing. All it does it legitimize crime and bring an even seedier element into the main stream.

Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, and coffee shops are licensed to sell small amounts of marijuana.

Prostitutes’ rights organizations have generally been indifferent to the crackdown, arguing that pimps are the main source of problems, not landlords. (Daily Mail)