A Danish hippie oasis has fought drug sales for years. Now, locals want to tear up the whole street

By JAN M. OLSEN
Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The inhabitants of Copenhagen’s freewheeling Christiania neighborhood are planning 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. 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.