Samenvatting

The fight against organized cannabis cultivation is an important topic within Dutch law enforcement. No longer the sole responsibility of the police, the current trend is for the police to work alongside local government, companies providing energy, housing associations and the Inland Revenue. Together they unite their strengths to deal more effectively and resolutely with the problem. Although different studies have been conducted concerning the (effectiveness of) the fight against cannabis cultivation, there is not much known regarding the way actors experience the fight from ‘within’, that is: the interactions, perceptions and transformations of agreements and premises which are enacted on the ‘molecular level’ of the cooperation. In two large Dutch cities, we have researched, on the basis of semi-structured interviews and observation, how parties implement their role within the integral fight against cannabis cultivation. The results reveal that the execution is more complex and uncontrollable than previously considered. The cooperation turns out not to be deductive, structured and ‘organized’; but rather flexible, dynamic and ‘self organizing’ in character.