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Episode #14: Drugs in the Netherlands, with Stephen Snelders
My latest guest is Stephen Snelders of Utrecht University. Stephen and I met up in Amsterdam last March to talk about drugs, history, and the Netherlands. A native of Amsterdam, Stephen watched up close as the various drug scenes in that great city evolved during the 1980s. This helped turn him into a drug historian, initially studying the history of LSD in his country, and eventually publishing Drug Smuggler Nation: Narcotics and the Netherlands, 1920-1995 (Manchester University Press, 2021).
We talk about the 1960s and Amsterdam, the development of the famous Dutch system of cannabis “tolerance,” the deep roots of drug smuggling there, organized crime, and much more.
As always the podcast is available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Pocketcasts, and the Substack app.
Episode Outline
0:00-4:04: Introduction.
4:04-9:14: Early life and education, getting into history, the 1980s in Amsterdam.
9:14-14:40: Graduating from college, the MDMA/House rage, learning that you could get paid to do a PhD, deciding to work on the history of LSD in the Netherlands, doing an oral history of the Amsterdam drug subculture.
14:40-23:20: The development of LSD in the Netherlands in the 1950s and ‘60s, Simon Vinkenoog and the Beats, happenings, the Provo countercultural movement, the road to cannabis “toleration,” Bart Huges and the “third eye,” the 1980s and MDMA.
23:20-31:12: Today’s psychedelic renaissance and its lack of a countercultural vibe, professionalization of psychedelic therapy, psychedelics as PEDs and as part of the neoliberal project.
31:12-43:12: “Smart shops,” mushrooms, “truffles,” coffee shops and Dutch pragmatism, the transformation of cannabis from a hippie drug to something else, criminal involvement in the cannabis market.
43:12-48:49: 1990s homegrown cannabis, Ed Rosenthal, smuggling, new raids on coffee shops, organized crime, medicinal cannabis.
48:49-51:58: Prostitution in the Netherlands and the Amsterdam Red Light District.
51:58-55:35: Finishing the dissertation, first job, the field of medical history, academia in the Netherlands.
55:35-1:06:40: The long history of Dutch drug smuggling, organized crime today in the Netherlands.
1:06:40-1:13:04: Is the illicit market “working”?
1:13:04-end: Outro.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit isaaccampos.substack.com
View all episodes
By Isaac CamposMy latest guest is Stephen Snelders of Utrecht University. Stephen and I met up in Amsterdam last March to talk about drugs, history, and the Netherlands. A native of Amsterdam, Stephen watched up close as the various drug scenes in that great city evolved during the 1980s. This helped turn him into a drug historian, initially studying the history of LSD in his country, and eventually publishing Drug Smuggler Nation: Narcotics and the Netherlands, 1920-1995 (Manchester University Press, 2021).
We talk about the 1960s and Amsterdam, the development of the famous Dutch system of cannabis “tolerance,” the deep roots of drug smuggling there, organized crime, and much more.
As always the podcast is available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Pocketcasts, and the Substack app.
Episode Outline
0:00-4:04: Introduction.
4:04-9:14: Early life and education, getting into history, the 1980s in Amsterdam.
9:14-14:40: Graduating from college, the MDMA/House rage, learning that you could get paid to do a PhD, deciding to work on the history of LSD in the Netherlands, doing an oral history of the Amsterdam drug subculture.
14:40-23:20: The development of LSD in the Netherlands in the 1950s and ‘60s, Simon Vinkenoog and the Beats, happenings, the Provo countercultural movement, the road to cannabis “toleration,” Bart Huges and the “third eye,” the 1980s and MDMA.
23:20-31:12: Today’s psychedelic renaissance and its lack of a countercultural vibe, professionalization of psychedelic therapy, psychedelics as PEDs and as part of the neoliberal project.
31:12-43:12: “Smart shops,” mushrooms, “truffles,” coffee shops and Dutch pragmatism, the transformation of cannabis from a hippie drug to something else, criminal involvement in the cannabis market.
43:12-48:49: 1990s homegrown cannabis, Ed Rosenthal, smuggling, new raids on coffee shops, organized crime, medicinal cannabis.
48:49-51:58: Prostitution in the Netherlands and the Amsterdam Red Light District.
51:58-55:35: Finishing the dissertation, first job, the field of medical history, academia in the Netherlands.
55:35-1:06:40: The long history of Dutch drug smuggling, organized crime today in the Netherlands.
1:06:40-1:13:04: Is the illicit market “working”?
1:13:04-end: Outro.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit isaaccampos.substack.com