Copenhagen’s weed dealers may be in peril after five straight days of police crackdowns. Every day since Friday of last week, law enforcement officers have raided the infamous Pusher Street in Denmark’s capital. The well-known but illegal cannabis market is located in an alternative community known as Christiania. Squatters founded the hippie enclave on a retired military base in 1971.
Although the recreational use of cannabis is illegal in Denmark, vendors on Pusher Street regularly sell cannabis and related items from stalls in an open-air market. In the past, law enforcement has allowed Pusher Street to exist without too much interference. Police busted the area frequently, but ineffectively. With scouts nearby to tip off the dealers to police activity, raids were usually followed by a quick rebuilding of the marketplace. But that changed on May 31, when the current rash of raids began. Since then, police have arrested pot dealers and dismantled their makeshift shops on a daily basis.
Police Raids Having Their Effect
Deputy Chief Superintendent Lars Ole-Karlsen commands a special police unit that is conducting the raids. He told local media that his team’s efforts are beginning to show results. As police continue their raids and close down the pot stalls, fewer and fewer vendors are choosing to rebuild. He also noted that the shops that return are becoming less elaborate.
“We can state that, where on Friday there were 33 fully functioning stalls built with timber and plywood, the stands are now much more primitive. They are made of milk crates, and there are hardly any of them,” he said.
But at least some of Pusher Street’s weed and hash dealers are changing their tactics. After some vendors began selling their wares from bicycles, Ole-Karlsen warned