Dutch language

How to pronounce recreational drug in Dutch?

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You help people with an affliction, people who are in pain.
People who can't be helped with regular medication.
That's who you're helping.
The Netherlands is known for its liberal cannabis policy.
Our coffee shops are still a symbol of the Netherlands' leading role.
But the availability of medical cannabis in this country is not as well known...
even though it's been available on prescription since 2003.
But for many patients, doctors and health insurers it's still taboo...
because they only know it as a recreational drug with a negative image.
We're going to make hemp oil with the following ingredients.
Within a certain scene, the taboo on medical cannabis has been lifted.
These people have started growing it themselves...
because they've read articles online about its benefits and that it can even cure cancer.
These people are making medicine with a substance that falls under the Opium Act.
We wanted to meet the people that risk their freedom to brew their own medicine.
That's why we're off to Vlagtwedde, a small town in Groningen, to meet Erik.
He makes cannabis oil for his daughter Maaike, who suffers from severe epilepsy.
Gwen. - Erik.
This one... - You take in the evening?
Yes, it's the same medicine as this one.
So, in the morning you take the white, the blue and the small one.
She has good days and bad days and that's still the case...
but it is never as bad as it was before she started on CBD.
Erik wants to give his daughter cannabis containing a lot of CBD.
CBD is one of the active ingredients of cannabis. THC is the most well-known.
But there are 22 cannabinoids, each with their own particular effect.
Science suggests that CBD helps to reduce pain...
psychosis and therefore also epilepsy.
Before she started using CBD, she'd sit stoically on the couch all day.
Her mouth muscles didn't work properly so she'd have a lot of excess saliva.
You always had to keep a towel at hand because it just kept streaming out.
Now it's not half as bad. - Since she's been taking CBD?
Far, far less.
What a heavy story, Maaike.
North Groningen is the Dutch epicenter of industrial hemp.
This kind of hemp is grown for the fibers and seeds, which are turned into rope
As we drive around, we see hemp fields that stretch all the way to the horizon.
This hemp hardly contains any THC but does contain the CBD Erik is after.
People who switch to this alternative have already tried everything else.
They've tried all kinds of medicine, the doctors are at a loss.
So then you do what you think might help your child.
This is often a last resort.
If you look back there, you see some great buds over there. See?
They're back there, so we have to walk through it carefully.
I have permission to do this but I don't want to destroy the rest.
This is a little different than going to a pharmacy.
Or you can look at this way: this is the pharmacy.
I have some awesome big buds.
I guess that this trashbag is about a year's supply for Maaike.
OK, let's go. - OK.
Is this silly? - No, I always carry it like that.
It's the easiest way to carry it.
Erik got all his knowledge from Wernard Bruining...
one of the first Dutch coffee shop owners and now a champion of this alternative scene.
He urges people to bypass the pharmacy and take matters into their own hands.
There is so much interest that we want to teach people how to make it.
So, first introduce it to them, then give or sell it to them.
And then say, it's more satisfying and a lot cheaper to make it yourself.
If I was the only one doing this, you could get rid of me like that.
And if I'm eliminated, all my patients are left in the cold.
But there are hundreds of suppliers so you can't just eliminate them.
Are they really left in the cold if you or the suppliers are eliminated?
Some people really want to die if they can't get weed oil.
People who aren't helped with regular medication.
Are they the people that come here? - Yes.
I have polyarthritis, a form of rheumatoid arthritis.
Since 2014, none of the medications for rheumatism are covered by my insurance.
So I think this is the solution for me.
Has your MD ever given you a prescription? - No, never.
Never at all? - No, I have raised the issue.
But it was swept aside with things like: I doubt it works.
She wasn't in favor of it.
Where do you get this? - From my yard.
In your yard? - Yes, my plant is this big.
I have it on camera. It's about to flower. Do you want to see it?
Can I? Yes, please.
It's weed, from her backyard.
See, this is in my backyard. - What do you use it for?
I make oil out of it.
I have it with me. I've been using it since January and it makes me feel good.
If it's that effective, don't you find it strange that you can't get it at the pharmacy?
Yes, it is strange. But they care about selling medication, that's their business.
That's big business.
I had pills for high blood-pressure and my thyroid gland.
I don't take anything anymore excepts for the drops.
And that's sufficient? - It's sufficient. I'm not in pain.
I sleep like a baby.
To better understand the regular route we contacted Arno Hazekamp.
He's one of the few to conduct scientific research into cannabis' medicinal qualities.
He's responsible for the latest knowledge of the medicinal effects of the plant.
I wanted to do socially responsible research. Which wasn't really a thing at the time.
I thought, if I'm doing research, why not research something people want?
So I can tell them without National Geographic having to translate it first.
This is the lab where I make extracts to determine what ingredients cannabis has.
What does it do? What is it an effective treatment for?
There are two sources of information.
Large groups of patients that tell you what it helps them with.
Predominantly pain, fear, stress, appetite and insomnia.
If we look at clinical studies, we see the same picture emerge.
MS, spasms, epilepsy, insomnia, nausea.
But with cannabis it's more complicated.
Normally one active ingredient makes up a medicine but now there are many.
This is the fridge with the latest developments in medical cannabis?
This is the treasure chest. There are 500 cannabis samples...
to determine the diversity of cannabis in the Netherlands.
In the end, all these extracts should tell me...
how it works and what works best.
My work starts with understanding the components.
Which components do what? Why is this one good for sleeping?
And why does another work against pain? CBD oil is used for epileptic children.
There are claims it also cures cancer and that could potentially be true.
But we need to substantiate it or we might do more harm than good.
The research on epilepsy and cannabis is so new...
that it's not enough for many doctors to accept cannabis as a medication.
That's why Maaike's family doctor and neurologist won't prescribe cannabis.
Erik is forced to choose: Wait for science or get cracking?
It smells of weed. - Hemp.
Hemp. - Weed smells differently.
I take a bud, along with all this...
and I grind it to a fine powder in a food processor.
Lift up, higher. Like this, like this.
And down again.
I have a pan full. -Super.
In the oven for five minutes on 300 degrees.
It goes into a double pantyhose.
You soak it in alcohol.
You evaporate the rest in a rice cooker.
When the bubbles are gone, we add the oil.
Are you adding olive oil? -Yes.
We'll pour it into a jug and here we have CBD.
This is what's left of the plants we cut, 2.8 fluid ounces.
It's mixed with olive oil so it isn't pure.
And Maaike gets three drops, three times a day.
Open up.
There we are, three drops.
Does it taste different or the same? It's a new batch.
How does it taste? - Of nothing.
Does it taste of nothing? - Just like the old one?
I can't taste a thing. - I can't taste a thing, OK.
Good result? - I want to know.
Indeed, she's right. This one tastes different.
What if there was a government institute...
that would do this for parents with sick kids...
so you know what kind of medicine you're getting, would you accept that?
Yes. We're not anti-government, not at all.
Maaike has always gotten the help she needed.
We tried this remedy and so far it's a hit, if you like.
So we're carrying on with it but if there is something better...
I'll be the first to try it, but not for 1200 dollars a month.
It must be affordable, it must be available to everyone.
Currently, it is unknown whether and when...
epilepsy patients will be entitled to cannabis from the pharmacy.
If it happens, the company Bedrocan BV will supply the cannabis.
They have the monopoly on medicinal cannabis in the Netherlands.
As there aren't many cannabis scientists, Arno Hazekamp also works here.
Besides his research at the university he's also the head of research here.
We have permission to film at Bedrocan as long as we don't film the outside.
They're afraid of being burgled, so for security reasons we'll only film indoors.
Come in. This is the nursery.
Here is a real... -You can smell it, yes.
It's a different atmosphere. Let's go inside.
I can already see them.
I'm walking in the only legal...
weed lab in the Netherlands. There are plants and you can smell it.
This strain is thinner, it has a thinner stalk and smaller flowers.
Let's take a step back. I'm in front of a cell, the window opens, the light goes on...
and I see a room full of cannabis plants.
That's right. - The only legal cannabis plants in Holland?
Yes, there are a few other companies with an exemption...
but this is the only place where cannabis is produced for human consumption.
This is where the plant is turned into medicine.
How does that work? We're not allowed through that door, it must remain shut.
How many plants are there? - An entire harvest per room.
Monday morning it goes to the drying room. It takes 7 days to dry, until next Monday.
And the next step is from a living plant to medicine.
The buds that we want must be removed from the stems...
and that's done on the other side of the building.
The employees have to wear a suit, a hair net
gloves and face masks and then the ladies get started.
According to Arno, one of the greatest challenges is to get the dosage right.
We're currently working on a small evaporator.
The cannabis is made into this small disk, like a little espresso pod or something.
It goes in the machine, close it and switch it on.
And when it's ready, you inhale. A Nespresso system for cannabis.
Why would a patient want to open a jar, grind the cannabis...
divide it into tiny dosages, get dirty, it smells, put it in something?
It's unnecessary and it's not what makes cannabis medicinal.
These are all unnecessary steps that we might as well take care of.
Perhaps it's nice to meet Bedrocan's founder.
Hi. Gwen, nice to meet you. - Hello, I'm Tjalling.
Are these about to be harvested?
Can I have a look? - Sure.
These need two more weeks. - So when is it weed?
It'll never be weed, it's medical cannabis.
Let's get that clear, it'll never be weed. - Why is that distinction so important?
If we look at the coffee shop culture, you can order White Widow...
but nobody knows what it is or what it contains.
We know exactly what medical cannabis is. That's Arno's job.
One of our larger projects, is mapping the biodiversity of cannabis.
For instance, if you buy White Widow is it always the same?
Or does it differ?
Is it more like Sour Diesel one time and like Northern Light another?
Then there's no use in naming them, so we measure everything we can.
And we're inspired by the stories of patients and users.
Where did this scene, that is mostly online, come from?
These patients who have taken matters into their own hands.
As long as there is insufficient scientific research that proves...
that cannabis works and the species that are available...
if there is insufficient evidence, a doctor won't prescribe it.
That's why we keep taking our research further...
to look at what our strains actually do for people.
The patients, the home grower and the home brewer...
who are the advocates of scientific research of medical cannabis...
aren't waiting on slow scientific progress or for approval from health insurers.
They feel this causes unnecessary suffering and sometimes even death.
It seems that only a change in the image of cannabis...
will give the plant the positive attention it deserves.
So there won't be just a handful of scientists...
and so people won't have to make their children's medicine at home.
God gave us hemp and we ban it. So who's crazy?
I'm not making cocaine. That's different.
You help people with an affliction, people who are in pain.
People who can't be helped with regular medication.
That's who you're helping.
When you think you've been defeated, you are in fact defeated.
You have to hang in there to win the battle in the long run.