NORML Canada home page.
(21 November '02 fax from James Burton) Documents recently received
from James Burton of the Stichting Institute of Medical Marijuana, in Rotterdam
(Note : "Stichting" is a Dutch word which roughly translates as "non-profit
organization".) :
- Page one
of the incorporation papers of the Stichting from Notary A. C. J. Ewoldt
on October 27, 1993.
- Newspaper article of April 10, 2002
, announcing that medical marijuana from the stichting would soon
be available in Dutch pharmacies ; purchases for eligible patients to be
paid for by Dutch medical insurance policies ("ziekenfonds").
- Another similar newspaper article
from the "Agrarisch Dagblad" (Dutch for "Daily Agriculture Newspaper")
on May 14, 2002.
Other news from James Burton :
James has recently been interviewed on the national Dutch TV program,
Nova, and an article in Het Parool
, one of Holland's largest newspapers, appeared on November 16, 2002.
You may
view the Nov. 16 article
by paying for it (!!!)
James reports that his price for prescription medical marijuana is now
3 Euro's per gram (about U.S.$3.00), and that he has about 1000 customers.
He and Linda are often working 12 - 18 hour days growing and harvesting
marijuana to keep up with demand which is increasing daily.
NOTE : The current NORML Canada web maintainer, Bill Carroll,
was given a referal by Dion Markgraff to interview James when he announced
the formation of the SIMM back in Oct. 1993. This interview became part of
TAPE 2, of the series, Legal Marijuana in Holland
; We Are Not Criminals ; The Dutch Moral Majority Speak, produced
and marketed by Ninth Article Productions
, my own video enterprise. At that time, Dion was a partner at the
"hemp information center" near central station, C)annabis I)n A)msterdam,
run by a trio of young American hemp entrepreneurs ; Dion, Adam, and Doug.
Dion later split with his partners, and among other things, ran the
activist goup, Green Prisoner Release Amsterdam (GPRA), which was
formed to protest the incarceration of marijuana (and other herbal drugs)
users, growers, and dealers. (Yours truly was a member of GPRA from
July '96 until Dec. '96 while editing this website.) Dion and GPRA received
a High Times Cannabis Cup award in November 1996 for their protests
against the Dutch government's deportation proceedings of two American "pot
refugee's" from Arkansas, Les and Cheryl Mooring. The Dutch government
deported Les and Cheryl anyway, who were then incarcerated in the U.S.
Dion eventually returned to San Diego where he became involved in the
medical marijuana movement there, while his two former partners still operate
a hemp store in Amsterdam, today. The "Cannabis College" still operates today in downtown Amsterdam, teaching people how to
grow marijuana using advanced indoor techniques (with respect for outdoor traditions) in the same place where GPRA used to have their meetings.
