The residents of the famous hippie neighborhood “Christiania“ in Copenhagen have taken measures against the trade of cannabis in the hope of ridding the area of criminal gangs after a series of deadly shootings, reported Reuters.
After tolerating the illegal sale of cannabis in the once barracks area that the hippies in the 1970s had claimed as their territory, the authorities and residents of “Christiania” decided this year to excavate the street known locally as “Pusher Street” and to remove the cannabis booths from it.
„The Free City of Christiania” has become a major tourist attraction with more than half a million visitors a year, but an increase in gang violence linked to drug trafficking in the area worries residents and authorities alike.
„We have always said that we support the free use of hashish, but this is no longer possible,” said Hulda Mader, a spokesperson for “Christiania”. "We want the street to be ours again," she added.
In recent years, police have removed cannabis kiosks from time to time, only to see them reinstated soon after.
„Pusher Street“ must die so that “Christiania” can live, Copenhagen Mayor Sophie Hestorp Andersen told Reuters.
„The crime scenes we saw here were so brutal... we cannot allow “Christiania” to die because people don't dare to live here and where local residents are threatened by greedy thugs and dealers”, she added.
In August, a 30-year-old man was fatally shot and four others were wounded on the streets of “Christiania” in the latest of several deadly shootings linked to organized crime in the neighborhood.
Locals were today invited to take pebbles from the excavated cobblestones of "Pusher Street" as a souvenir of the famous street, after the police demolished the booths selling cannabis there.
„For me „Pusher Street” It's not really unique at all, is it? I associate it with violence, gangs, murders, threats and everything that is actually the opposite of what “Christiania” said Matilde Brandstrup, a resident of the neighborhood.
The Danish police will remain in “Christiania” and in its vicinity "for as long as necessary" to prevent the resumption of illegal drug sales, Deputy Chief Inspector Simon Hansen said.
The residents of “Christiania“ live autonomously with self-declared rules, although they are not officially recognized as a city within the city by the Copenhagen authorities.
Danish pop singer Lucas Graham was born and raised in “Christiania” and has written several songs about his life as a child in a hippie enclave.