2023-08-28 08:54:51
Copenhagen
The former paradise of hippies wants to end the drug trade
After another deadly shooting on Saturday, the libertarian enclave of Christiania appealed on Sunday for help from the Danish authorities to close “Pusher Street”, its main artery and hub of cannabis trafficking.
UpdatedAugust 28, 2023, 10:54 AM
Pusher Street. (Photo d’archive)
“Tonight, August 27, the community of Christiania has decided that Pusher Street should be closed”, said in a press release published Sunday night this community of a district of Copenhagen, concerning its main artery and hub of the cannabis trafficking. “The Christianites have neither the resources nor the power to close Pusher Street and keep it closed,” said the statement calling for help from the authorities.
Former hippie paradise
In 1971, hippies had created the “free city of Christiania” in an old abandoned barracks to create a commune, in his own words, “which belongs to everyone and no one” and where every decision is made collectively. In this small enclave, the sale and consumption of cannabis are illegal but tolerated, which leads to abuses with drug trafficking and the appearance of gangs. On Saturday, a 30-year-old man linked to organized crime was shot dead in the street. This is the fourth shooting assassination linked to drug trafficking since 2020 around Pusher Street.
Temporary blocking
The approximately 900 inhabitants of this 34-hectare enclave in the heart of Copenhagen now want to put an end to this trafficking and are calling for state regulation of the cannabis market. In early August, for a day, residents blocked non-residents access to the “free city”, visited by more than half a million tourists each year, “in the hope of freeing Christiania from tyranny gangs”.
Asked by TV2 television, Justice Minister Peter Hummelgaard said he wanted to “achieve lasting change”. A working group bringing together representatives of the inhabitants, the police, the municipality of Copenhagen and the State is considering the implementation of a solution, he added.
(AFP)
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