Ms. Elatik...believes that alcoholics “cannot be just ostracized” and

 Ms. Elatik...believes that alcoholics “cannot be just ostracized” and

told to shape up. It’s better, she said, to give them something to do

and restrict their drinking to a limited amount of beer with no hard

alcohol.

Andrew Higgins (2013) shows why Ms Elatik, the Mayor of Eastern Amsterdam, supports the program. She feels that instead of pushing alcoholics out of society it’s better to keep them busy with a useful task and use beer with no hard alcohol in order to control their alcohol addiction.

Conservative members of the Amsterdam City Council have derided what they call the “beer project” as a waste of government money and a misguided extension of a culture of tolerance that has already made the city a mecca for marijuana users and spawned Europe’s best-known red-light district.

Higgins (2013) mentions the opposition's arguments against the program. Some conservatives feel the program is a misuse of government money because it encourages bad behavior. They feel this attitude has lead to other issues with excessive marijuana use and prostitution.