Press Release

European Coalition for Just and Effective Drug Policies
Antwerp 8th May 2017
Free Manu Moreau

What happened on the 4th of May?

During the recent raids of the Belgian police 14 people were summoned and 3 arrested by the prosecutor and one of them is the world renown stand-up comedian Manu Moreau. All are members of Cannabis Social Club Trekt Uw Plant and stand accused of dealing in cannabis and money laundering.

The news is a real shock for the European drug reform movement that considers this initiative as a sudden reversal of the prohibitionist forces against Belgian activists. A circumstance that apparently seems at odds with the Belgian judiciary and more important, with the growing concern about the need of our societies to regulate cannabis That’s also the core argument of most jurists .The urgency of legal regulation was also evoked a few days ago by Naples’s judges, by the Anti-mafia and by the Italian general attorney Henry John Woodcock.

By arresting an artist like Manu Moreau and his colleagues from Trekt Uw Plant the Belgian authorities are facing the dilemma of prosecuting the very people that have been working, at their own risk, to change the appalling situation of a legal system that backs criminals and prosecutes citizens.

Despite this case we want the present situation to be resolved positively for the Belgian and European society as a whole.

Since 2006 the cannabis association Trekt Uw Plant applies the Belgian that rules allows for the possession of one female plant per citizen.
It is typical of small countries to be lenient and modest. Accordingly the Belgian royal decree passed the first state ruling to re-legalize cannabis and to regulate its small scale production. Much earlier than Uruguay, Colorado and the whole West Coast of the USA.

As a result the Antwerp cannabis club Trekt Uw Plant has grown and distributed cannabis to its 400 members for over ten years. This is also made possible by the non-profit nature of such an activity, that abide to the statutes of charitable organisations. Two earlier court cases have already been fought and won by TUP in a higher appeal.

The Belgian regulatory model represents a good example of what should and should not be done.

At at 13:00hrs on Tuesday 9th of May a special demo will be organised for Manu Moreau at the justitiepaleis in Antwerp.

Freedom to Farm!
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