What would a shop for regulated ecstasy look like? On the initiative of Drugs Museum Poppi, a concept shop for ecstasy opened last week, in which various sales scenarios are simulated. The public experiment invites visitors to enter into the discussion about whether or not to regulate ecstasy. A trial balloon during ADE to make people think and provoke discussion.
By making tangible what the regulation of ecstasy could look like, Drugs Museum Poppi takes the issue to the extreme. In our issue thinking, that confrontation is necessary to sharpen and initiate the social discussion on this.
The discussion about ecstasy regulation has been going on for years and has no simple solution. Concerns about the harmful effects of ecstasy play a major role in the public debate. This not only concerns health risks and possible psychological consequences, but also environmental damage caused by illegal production, possible impure or hazardous substances, crime, illegal trade, safety, dumping of waste, especially in Brabant, and the possible normalisation of drug use. At the same time, proponents point out that regulation can enable controlled production, better quality control, less crime and better information.
All this makes the regulation of ecstasy a 'wicked' issue: the current situation needs a solution, but every policy change creates problems elsewhere.
This issue polarizes, but not because there is discussion about the problem. In fact, everyone agrees that something needs to change about the current situation. But there is a lot of discussion about the solutions. How do you actually take this issue further?
The initiative of the XTC shop is an interesting way to get the conversation going. But in order to take new steps in society, it is important to broaden this conversation. A dialogue with organizations that have expertise in the field of drug policy, public health and safety is indispensable. These stakeholders can help to deepen the public debate and explore concrete steps towards regulation, in order to arrive at broadly supported social policy.
Illustration by Frank Mineur.
