The Danish government is allocating 21 million kronor to redevelop Christiania in Copenhagen, following several violent incidents related to the drug trade. The Minister of Justice says the investment is a step towards the ”final closure of Pusher Street.”.

After last year's violence in the notorious Christiania district of Copenhagen, several residents of the area wanted Pusher Street to be closed. The street is best known today for the open drug trade that has been going on for many years, in so-called hash shops that are controlled by organized crime. 

The police have been going in and tearing down hash shops on the street for several years, but despite this, hash sales have quickly resumed. On Wednesday, the Danish government announced that it is allocating 14.3 million Danish kronor, equivalent to 21 million kronor, as co-financier in a change plan for order on the street together with a number of other actors.  

Both the Minister of Justice and the Minister of the Elderly are "convinced" that the initiative will be effective and that the era of illegal drugs in the area is over. 

”"For decades, Pusher Street has been a breeding ground for blatant organized drug crime, which follows a bloody trail of blunt violence and brutal murders. Therefore, Pusher Street, as we know it today, must be closed. Now we are taking another important step in that direction," says Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard in a press release. 

The Minister for the Elderly, Mette Kierkgaard, also spoke out and expressed a positive view of the change plan.

”"Now the visions of a Christiania without Pusher Street must be realized. I believe in a future creative and peaceful Christiania without the shadow that Pusher Street casts over the area today," she says in a press release.

Source: TT