Justice Minister Ivo: "Drug tourists need somewhere else"

[Marco]

"Then they go somewhere else," he declared Monday at AT5. "But the best is to stop working entirely." The minister was at the invitation of the VVD in the industrial Groote Club to talk about safety.

. The introduction of the wietpas is enshrined in the coalition. The pass system will be allowed only regulars in coffee shops inside. Mayor Eberhard van der Laan is a great opponent of the measure. He anticipates that the drug trafficking on the street will increase. Moreover, it costs the city millions in revenue.

http://www.at5.nl/artikelen/57688/drugs ... nders-heen

[donpacino]

Great this subject again, i thought they would have gave up with this stupid by idea by now.

[Marco]

Great this subject again, i thought they would have gave up with this stupid by idea by now.

Agreed. I do not know enough about the politics here to know what to make of it.

It was asked of him at a business event, he did not bring it up. Considering there are provincial elections soon, it would be strange if they backed off one of their campaign promises so publicly. So it may be ok.

[Marnixstraat]

To me, you have to look at the context of that declaration... it's just an opinion, but ok he is a politic so it means more that an average guy.
But everyone had opinions, and as you have noticed the Mayor of Amsterdam doesn't seem to agree !

Predict politics results, coalition, and elections is always tough, and the fear (about the wietpass) remain, but who know, maybe even if they want to implement the system, they would not have the time to vote, pass the law ecc...

so.... Be Positive Be Positive Be Positive

[TTx2]

I think that can never happen. Can you see the economical and social problem arrising from the loss of revenue directly and indirectly from shutting down coffeeshops? I mean, it fuels an entire tourism economy that sustains thousands of works directly and indirecly, with flights, hostels, restaurants, and so many things. It seems very unlikely to happen in the dam, at least.

[Boner]

Stoners are cheap fuckers who scrimp on accomodation and eats so they can spend more money on weed, if Amsterdam introduced the wietpass they'd clean the citys rep up and make it more appealing to the tourists who would spend money elsewhere.

[milehigh]

The thing is, I don't know of one single coffeeshop that is trying to do anything about it. In fact most will survive just fine on local business. I said most, I wonder what Barneys, Greenhouse, and Bulldog are doing? Probably paying off their mortgages in tropical countries(Spain) and getting ready to retire.

[TTx2]

The thing is, I don't know of one single coffeeshop that is trying to do anything about it. In fact most will survive just fine on local business. I said most, I wonder what Barneys, Greenhouse, and Bulldog are doing? Probably paying off their mortgages in tropical countries(Spain) and getting ready to retire.

thats actually nonsense.. do you see more locals or tourists in coffeeshops? yes i have answered you question.

[milehigh]

The thing is, I don't know of one single coffeeshop that is trying to do anything about it. In fact most will survive just fine on local business. I said most, I wonder what Barneys, Greenhouse, and Bulldog are doing? Probably paying off their mortgages in tropical countries(Spain) and getting ready to retire.

thats actually nonsense.. do you see more locals or tourists in coffeeshops? yes i have answered you question.

Locals by far except for a few Amsterdam centrum shops. Some shops have never seen a tourist. I lived in a local coffeeshop in Haarlem and in the Netherlands for several years. I still have a home there. You can take some stock in my opinion newb.

I see you're moving to Mokum in a few days. How's that going?

[dconstrukt]

boner not so man.... i go out to eat all the time... amsterdam does have amazing food.... i rent a sweet apt in neiwmark square... you're probably talking about 18-21 year old college kids.... they don't have money, what do you expect.

[Marco]

The thing is, I don't know of one single coffeeshop that is trying to do anything about it. In fact most will survive just fine on local business. I said most, I wonder what Barneys, Greenhouse, and Bulldog are doing? Probably paying off their mortgages in tropical countries(Spain) and getting ready to retire.

thats actually nonsense.. do you see more locals or tourists in coffeeshops? yes i have answered you question.

Locals by far except for a few Amsterdam centrum shops. Some shops have never seen a tourist. I lived in a local coffeeshop in Haarlem and in the Netherlands for several years. I still have a home there. You can take some stock in my opinion newb.

I see you're moving to Mokum in a few days. How's that going?

LOL

[Boner]

boner not so man.... i go out to eat all the time... amsterdam does have amazing food.... i rent a sweet apt in neiwmark square... you're probably talking about 18-21 year old college kids.... they don't have money, what do you expect.

I now there are people who spend a lot, whenever my wife and I go with stay in places that typically cost €100+ a night, we spend about €100 a day but the majority are happy to stay somewhere cheap (the thread in the hotels section where people are saying about stopping at Zeeburg because it's €30 a night is a prime example) and eat cheap.

[Marco]

boner not so man.... i go out to eat all the time... amsterdam does have amazing food.... i rent a sweet apt in neiwmark square... you're probably talking about 18-21 year old college kids.... they don't have money, what do you expect.

I now there are people who spend a lot, whenever my wife and I go with stay in places that typically cost €100+ a night, we spend about €100 a day but the majority are happy to stay somewhere cheap (the thread in the hotels section where people are saying about stopping at Zeeburg because it's €30 a night is a prime example) and eat cheap.

I would be curious to see some data on CS visitors by country, but does not exist unless someone has done a survey. Boner, would you guess maybe 40%-50% are from the UK?

There is probably some correlation between how distant from Amsterdam a visitor is and how much he/she spends here. Considering how close (and cheap to get to Ams) the UK is, the average CS tourist is probably spending less than from other places.

Its a pity that there is not much real 'data' for the city to use in making its economic arguments.

[Boner]

I'd guess the highest number would be from people who can just drive into Holland from neighbouring countries, followed by the Uk and then from the States/Canada.

[Saxon]

Germany provides the greatest proportion of tourists visiting The Netherlands, closely followed by the UK. Germany and Britain provide almost 50% of all visitors to The Netherlands. The US is third highest in proportion of visitors, then Belgium in fourth and France is fifth.