June 12, 2018 was not exactly a typical day for Frisian couple Tabe Koopmans and Brigitte Boomsma. That day, they and their home became the subject of quite the police raid, during which their cannabis plants and cuttings were uncovered and confiscated. But the story doesn’t stop here: they now live in their cowshed, because their home has been foreclosed by their town’s municipality.
The invisible heroes who help patients, one bud at a time
Tabe Koopmans and Brigitte Boomsma are cannabis activists. You won’t see them on any pictures from cannabis fairs or protests. And yet, they are well-known by those who need them: Tabe and Brigitte have been growing medicinal cannabis for the patients of their area: people they know, people they know need it.
Now, their plants have been confiscated, as well as the cuttings they were saving for next year’s round. The couple has been forced to live in their cowshed since the raid, as their home has been foreclosed for 3 months by their town’s mayor.
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The aforementioned story may be tragic, unfair, and a typical result of the prohibition of cannabis, but this instance in particular is especially unnerving. Indeed, the operation designed to enter the couple’s property was at best a wild overreaction. What it really is however, is a heart-breaking display of people fighting for the right to live vs the War on Drugs, at its worse.
In this footage obtained by Cannabis News Network, it is very clear the use of a full-blown special forces squad on such a small grow operation is unwarranted. And yet, this is a reality for a lot of patients and growers, in the Netherlands where drug policies are fairly relaxed, as well as almost everywhere else in Europe.
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