Dutch Ban on Psychedelic Mushrooms

On December 1st a new Dutch law comes into effect, which bans the sale of fresh psychedelic mushrooms in Smart Shops. (Dried mushrooms were already illegal here.) This is the latest in a run of bans. The smoking ban – which came into effect in the Netherlands at midnight on July 1st – was obviously going to create problems. In this horoscope, Neptune defiantly straddles the ascendant, clearly pointing to the “smoke screen”, the poison and the addction. Here in a fixed sign ..this does not look good. Fixed signs are not keen on relinquishing anything. As you might imagine, the ashtrays are back on the bars in many Dutch cities. It’s now up to the Government to enforce the law. This with Saturn due to oppose Uranus. Oh Yes my friends. There could be some serious discontent in the Netherlands in 2009.

A squaring up of some sort. So… how does it look with the Ban on Mushrooms…

Virgo rising and Saturn in the first house, seems to suggest a law that desires a return to earth. Let’s get back to reality. Enough of this tripping about.. The horoscope has weight to it. Neptune the planet that seems to most represent the out of body experience, is in the sixth house of health as is the North Node and Chiron. The Dutch have become seriously alarmed by the rise in incidents involving pscychedelic drugs and young tourists it seems are particularly vulnerable. This current law is linked to the death of a 17 year old French student and the public outcry arising from it. Since then, psychedelics have become a serious public health issue in the Netherlands.

The chart ruler, Mercury, is in the sign of travel, and of journeys of the higher mind, Sagittarius. Mercury is mischevious and is particularly linked to the young. The desire to expand one’s horizon is not likely to be thwarted by this act. It is quite clear what will happen though – and the chart clearly reflects this – the production and sale of mushrooms will now move underground. The placement of the Sun, Mars and Mercury here in the 4th house, clearly indicates this. For many sensible, pragmatic Dutch politicians, this is not seen as a good thing.

This is a curious chart. Pluto has just inched its way into Capricorn and here it lurks in the deep dark fourth. Could it be that there is something nasty in the tool shed? Organised crime and Amsterdam….I shudder at the thought.

When prohibition was introduced in the US, on Jan 16th 1920, Pluto was in 6 degrees Cancer. This was called the Noble Experiment…and it failed. It simply did not work. There is, in my humble opinion, no more dangerous a drug than alcohol, yet enforced abstinance was only really good for organised crime.

Young people will continue to come to Amsterdam and will come looking for a particulalry sort of experience. I for one, have grown to respect the Dutch way of dealing with this. Control? Definitely. Ban. No. The particular tourists we are talking about here are represented by Mars in Sagittarius, combust (i.e. in conjunction with the Sun). A planet that is combust becomes invisible. We can’t see it. So while this group of tourists apparently disappears… evidently this is not the case. Without the safe guards of the old system (i.e. three days between order and actual sale, and the need to show a passport) the young will be at higher risk.

I believe that time will prove this point.