---<br /> <br /> AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - The International Narcotics Control Board <br /> yesterday praised efforts by the Dutch government to harden its famously <br /> relaxed marijuana policy, and urged it to go farther.<br /> <br /> The number of coffee shops where marijuana is openly sold in the <br /> Netherlands has fallen by around five per cent in the past two years since <br /> the conservative government made it more difficult to obtain business <br /> licences and threatened to increase sentences for marijuana growers.<br /> <br /> The policy change brings the Dutch "closer toward full compliance with the <br /> international drug-control treaties with regard to cannabis", the <br /> Vienna-based board said in a statement.<br /> <br /> "The fact that the Dutch government has recognised the health and social <br /> problems associated with cannabis abuse and its cultivation and trafficking <br /> will have a far-reaching impact on the whole region and beyond," it said.<br /> <br /> The board, which promotes United Nations drug policy, "urges the Dutch <br /> government to take further action to reduce the number of coffee shops, <br /> which are contrary to the provisions of the international drug-control <br /> treaties".<br /> <br /> Marijuana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but police don't <br /> bother people for possession of less than several grams (a quarter of an <br /> ounce). Some coffee shops have sold it since the 1970s, and the easygoing <br /> atmosphere is a major draw for tourism, especially in cities near the <br /> Belgian and German borders and in the capital, Amsterdam.<br /> <br /> The chairman of Legalize!, a Dutch-based organisation that promotes <br /> liberalising drugs policy, said the crackdown has been felt by coffee shops <br /> and users, resulting in more street dealing and underground sales.<br /> <br /> "There's definitely been a turning point a few years ago," Has Cornelissen <br /> said. "Other countries are catching up to us in terms of policy."<br /> <br /> Last year, Britain reclassified marijuana as an illegal drug not worthy of <br /> prosecution in low-level cases. Canada's Senate recommends legalisation.<br /> <br /> Studies by the Netherlands' Trimbos Institute, which does not take sides in <br /> the legalisation dispute, says that usage rates in the Netherlands have <br /> risen slightly in recent years, but remained in the middle of international <br /> averages. Meanwhile the percentage of THC, the main active chemical in <br /> marijuana, has dramatically increased in Dutch weed.<br /> <br /> A study published in the British Medical Journal in January said that <br /> marijuana use may increase the chance of mental illness.<br /> <br />Aurora Indica |  B52 |  Big Bud |  California Orange Bud |  Citral |  Four Way |  Haze |  Hindu Kush |  Indoor Mix |  Jock Horror |  K2 |  Maroc x Afghan |  Northern Light x Big Bud |  Northern Light x Haze |  Northern Light x Shiva |  Shiva |  Skunk #1 |  Skunk Red Hair |  Skunk Special |  Papaya |  White Rhino |  Haze 19 x Skunk |  Afghan |  Master Kush |  Northern Light |  Super Skunk |  Top 44 |  Durban Poison |  Early Bud |  Early Girl |  Early Misty |  Early Special |  Hawaii x Maui Waui |  Hawaii x Skunk #1 |  Hollands Hope |  KC 33 x Master Kush |  Mixed Sativa |  New Purple Power |  Swazi |  Swiss Miss |  Northern Bright |  Snow White (fem.) |  Supergirl |  Venus |  Wonder Woman |  Kaya |  PPP (fem.) |  Medusa |  Blue Mystic |  Chrystal |  Ice |  Misty |  PPP |  White Widow |  Nirvana Special |  White Rhino |  Snow White |  AK-48 |  Bubblelicious |  Silver Pearl |  Haze |  Jock Horror |  Northern Light x Haze |  White Rhino |  Haze 19 x Skunk |