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  COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The inhabitants of Copenhagen’s freewheeling
  Christiania neighborhood plan to dig up the aptly named Pusher Street,
  in their latest attempt to stop illegal hashish sales which have led to
  deadly gang turf wars and sometimes violent confrontations with the
  police.

  Residents of the hippie enclave are calling for volunteers to help dig
  up the street on April 6, the Berlingske newspaper wrote Thursday. All
  are welcome, and participants can take home one of its cobblestones as
  a souvenir.

  It is yet unclear what will replace the street.

  The residents are fighting to preserve Christiania’s reputation as a
  “free-wheeling society” made up of political idealists and aging
  hippies. For years, hash has been sold openly in Christiania from
  roadside stalls, among buildings painted in psychedelic colors. But
  inhabitants say that feuding gangs, not them, control the trade and the
  survival of their community hinges on ending it.

  The neighborhood has been a world apart from the rest of Copenhagen
  since [1]1973, when hippies squatted at a derelict naval base and set
  up a community dedicated to the flower-power ideals popular at the
  time: free cannabis, limited government influence, no cars and no
  police.

  After more than four decades of locking horns with authorities, they
  were given control over their homes when the state sold the 84-acre
  (24-hectare) enclave for 85.4 million kroner ($12.5 million) to a
  foundation owned by its inhabitants. There are nearly 700 adults and
  about 150 children living in the community today, and it’s one of the
  Danish capital’s biggest tourist attractions.

  The “Christianites” have made several attempts to close the hashish
  market in the roughly 100 meter (328 foot)-long street. Police say the
  trade, worth millions, is controlled by the Hells Angels and the
  outlawed Loyal to Family.

  Authorities tolerated hashish sales in Christiania until 2004, when
  police started to crack down. To preempt police raids, residents took
  down hash booths, but trading soon came back. Last year, they brought
  heavy machinery to tear down the market but masked men stopped them.

  In the past month, Christiania has worked with local authorities to
  make plan that includes ending the drug trade and replacing it with
  other activities.

  The social and housing ministry said that it was “an important
  prerequisite to get rid of the organized hashish trade” before
  Christiania can get 14.3 million kroner ($2.1 million) earmarked for
  the work.

  A 30-year-old man who was selling drugs was shot and killed, and four
  others injured, in August; in 2022, a man selling hashish from one of
  the street’s booths was shot dead. The previous year, a man was shot
  and killed at the entrance to the same street.

  [2]Last year, the mayor of Copenhagen urged foreigners not to buy
  hashish there because of the deadly shootings.

References

  1. https://apnews.com/article/europe-denmark-copenhagen-5dfe5825078672dec8ea627fac195f65
  2. https://apnews.com/article/denmark-marijuana-christiania-criminal-gangs-deadly-shooting-a5b068d4931af1b241c6dd080f0e25f7