The outgoing cabinet is making 14 million euros available on a structural basis for the enforcement of the nitrous oxide ban, which is expected to be introduced in the spring of 2022. That is what outgoing Minister of Justice and Security Ferd Grapperhaus (CDA) wrote in a letter to the House of Representatives on Monday. In March, he decided to postpone the ban for the time being, because there was no enforcement money in the ministry’s budget.
The fact that the financing has now been completed means that the cabinet can now take the next step in the “important legislative process”, says the letter to parliament. Enforcing a ban on nitrous oxide is more expensive than with other drugs, says a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice and Security, because nitrous oxide is also used regularly, such as in hospitals and the food industry. Trade is therefore not always prohibited. With the amount of 524 million euros that the outgoing cabinet made available on Budget Day for tackling subversive crime, money will also be made available for the enforcement of nitrous oxide.
A number of large Dutch cities, including Rotterdam, Arnhem and Amsterdam, have already introduced nitrous oxide bans. In The Hague, it was already banned in October 2020 to use laughing gas in public areas. In Utrecht, there is already a ban in neighborhoods where the drug causes the most nuisance.
Also read: Ban nitrous oxide may create a market for criminals