we've been banned....official.

[Marok21]

as I know yes. It´s closed for one month... but that was what the owner of the shop want to do because now
he can go to the court with that problem. Only after the shop is closed by the major it is
possible to go to the court.

[matty223]

here you see the effect of the weed pass in Maastricht... the police do nothing or don´t know what to do...

external Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iKI7rc-6Hg

video is in dutch...

it will be interesting to see what the major of Maastricht say about that situation.

watched this yesterday in a coffeeshop, its all ver the dutch tv (which is a good thing)

[NedFlanders]

if it wasn`t so sad i would laugh out loud. this politics is so ridiculous!

[radjew]

Coffeeshop protests at not being sued

A coffeeshop owner in the southern Dutch city of Tilburg is furious because he won’t be prosecuted for selling soft drugs illegally.

He had hoped to elicit a test case to challenge a new law restricting cannabis sales. Under the new rules introduced on May 1, coffeeshops in the southern border provinces are only allowed to sell soft drugs to customers with membership cards, or so-called ‘weed passes’. Only Dutch residents are eligible for the cards. The law is aimed at deterring so-called ‘drugs tourists’ from neighbouring countries.

The Tilburg coffeeshop had deliberately failed to keep a list of members, and openly sold cannabis to foreigners this week. But a public prosecutor’s office spokesperson said that although the coffeeshops licensing conditions had been breached, no criminal offence had been committed. The case is to be dealt with at administrative level.

The coffeeshop’s lawyer says he is disappointed, because there was an agreement with the public prosecutor that the coffeeshop’s actions would result in a test case. “All the trouble of this exercise has been for nothing,” he said. “The public prosecutor’s office ought to keep its promises.”

http://www.expatica.com/nl/news/dutch-n ... 25382.html

No criminal offence ?? So you can do what you want or they wait till the mayor acts on his own? They won't play ball but this introduces even more confusion tbh.

[Thomasbandit]

No criminal offence ?? So you can do what you want or they wait till the mayor acts on his own? They won't play ball but this introduces even more confusion tbh.

It all reeks of such corruption, can't believe they can even get away from this. There is no democracy, simply they set the rules and you have to follow.

Meanwhile, in Belgium

Belgians call for tourist beer ban

A group of Belgians have started a campaign to introduce a “beer pass” to stop Dutch tourists buying beer in Belgium. The ironic protest comes in response to the introduction pass system to stop ‘drugs tourists’ from buying cannabis in Dutch border provinces.

The ‘weed pass’ was introduced on 1 May in the southern Dutch provinces of Limburg, Brabant and Zeeland. To buy cannabis at a coffeeshop, customers now have to show membership cards, which are only available to Dutch residents.

Residents in border areas complain of nuisance caused by flocks of mainly Belgian tourists crossing the border to buy soft drugs. But opponents of the new law argue that it plays into the hands of criminal gangs who sell soft drugs outside of the officially tolerated coffeeshops. Dutch and European courts have so far rejected pleas that the pass system is discriminatory.

Indignant Belgians who resent what they see as Dutch discrimination have now hit back with a Facebook campaign to prevent “all those drunken tourists who cause a nuisance” from drinking Belgium’s famous beers.

http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/belg ... t-beer-ban

[treetop]

No criminal offence ?? So you can do what you want or they wait till the mayor acts on his own? They won't play ball but this introduces even more confusion tbh.

It all reeks of such corruption, can't believe they can even get away from this. There is no democracy, simply they set the rules and you have to follow.

Meanwhile, in Belgium

Belgians call for tourist beer ban

A group of Belgians have started a campaign to introduce a “beer pass” to stop Dutch tourists buying beer in Belgium. The ironic protest comes in response to the introduction pass system to stop ‘drugs tourists’ from buying cannabis in Dutch border provinces.

The ‘weed pass’ was introduced on 1 May in the southern Dutch provinces of Limburg, Brabant and Zeeland. To buy cannabis at a coffeeshop, customers now have to show membership cards, which are only available to Dutch residents.

Residents in border areas complain of nuisance caused by flocks of mainly Belgian tourists crossing the border to buy soft drugs. But opponents of the new law argue that it plays into the hands of criminal gangs who sell soft drugs outside of the officially tolerated coffeeshops. Dutch and European courts have so far rejected pleas that the pass system is discriminatory.

Indignant Belgians who resent what they see as Dutch discrimination have now hit back with a Facebook campaign to prevent “all those drunken tourists who cause a nuisance” from drinking Belgium’s famous beers.

http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/belg ... t-beer-ban

Good for them. Hope this spreads.

[The_Kushler]

Has anyone seen an actual weed pass? Post a pic if possible. Would be interesting to see one, but by the sounds of it the system hasn't really been thought through. I think it's just a clever way of shutting down a lot of coffeeshops quickly through lack of footfall.

[dwiggins]

Yep, I'd love to see the wietpas. Historically significant, I think. A document allowing discrimination & limiting freedom.
Can't wait for the t-shirt version.
Oh the possibilities. B.W. (Before wietpas).

[Xplore]

As far as I know there is no such thing as an actual wietpas yet. Coffeeshops must be able to show a member register when asked by the police. You have to go to the town hall, there you can buy (!) an official paper to show you are officialy registered in the city you live in. You give that to the one coffeeshop of your choice (if you have any choice). The coffeeshop will put you on their personal memberlist (can be a piece of paper or a computer). Some coffeeshops might print a card or something, but they don't have to.

There is also no central member database (yet?) .

This law is really amateuristic and wont make the end of the year. There is no way enough police to maintain this law and the consequences of that law.

[salty seadog]

Well they were using the wietpas in High Life in Goes yesterday. in fact they would not even sell me a pipe without one. they were a white credit card with a bar code that gets scanned at the counter and it looked like the limit was 3 grams too.

ssd

[spidergawd]

Well they were using the wietpas in High Life in Goes yesterday. in fact they would not even sell me a pipe without one. they were a white credit card with a bar code that gets scanned at the counter and it looked like the limit was 3 grams too.

ssd

I wonder if enough people will sign up to the weedpass to keep them in business, otherwise as was shown in a video in another thread the dealing is back on the street. I personally wouldn't get one.

[Xplore]

Ah I had not heard of any real wietpas untill your post ssd.

I know the grasscompany only uses a single computer not connected to internet or intranet to prevent hacking an such, but I can imagine more shops are going to work with a real creditcard like pass if they can afford.

[Stamford]

Isn't it illegal to discriminate on grounds of nationality under EU laws?

[radjew]

Mixed views about success of new cannabis cafe rules

Tuesday 08 May 2012

The new rules banning tourists from cannabis cafes in the south of the country have been welcomed by people living close to the cafes in Maastricht, mayor Onno Hoes told news agency ANP on Tuesday.

'The system is workable,' Hoes said. The ban was introduced in the south of the country at the beginning May and will be expanded nationwide in 2013. The government hopes the new rules will reduce drugs tourism and criminality.

The mayor told reporters he did not know if the positive signs were due to the fact 13 of the city's 14 cannabis cafes have closed their doors in protest at the new policy.

In addition, he admitted 20 street dealers have been arrested since the new law came into effect. This is more than usual, Hoes said.

Hotline

Meanwhile, Labour councillors in Venlo say the ban has led to such a surge in street dealing that they have set up a hotline where locals can report problems. Councillor Hay Janssen said the south of the country is now suffering from a 'tsunami of drug runners'.

'This has serious consequences for the safety and atmosphere in villages and towns,' he said.

Nu.nl also reports that the ban, which also requires locals to register as official cannabis users, has led to an increase in drugs tourism in Nijmegen. The ban is not yet in force in the city. 'Sales have gone up by 20% to 30%,' one coffee shop owner told the website.


http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2 ... s_of_n.php

[dude65]

Isn't it illegal to discriminate on grounds of nationality under EU laws?

Yes, but the EU court has ruled that this form of discrimination is legal if required to maintain public peace and order blaaahh blaahh.
(As you are certainly aware, happy stoners are *exactly* the group known for causing trouble, making noise at night, getting into fights)

I am also fairly certain that there is a LOT of pressure on both the Dutch government and the entire EU machinery to get Cannabis back to the totally illegal status in the Netherlands. I can definitely see the current German government behind something like this. And as you can see in the current financial fuckup, the german gov't pretty much gets what they want.

Check out what you local Pirate party thinks about the Cannabis situation and consider joining them!