Up in smoke! Dutch to ban tourists from buying pot

[Puffin13]

Up in smoke! Dutch to ban tourists from buying pot
By Gilbert Kreijger
11-17-2010

The Netherlands' proposed 'coffee shop' restrictions part of crackdown on drug crime

Amsterdam has plans to close some of the 223 'coffee shops' in the red-light district to tackle criminal activity in the area.

The Dutch government said on Wednesday it wanted to ban tourists from buying cannabis in "coffee shops," where hash is on sale legally, as part of a national crackdown on drug use.

The Netherlands has one of Europe's most liberal soft drug policies and its coffee shops are a popular tourist attraction, especially in Amsterdam and border cities near Belgium and Germany.

But some cities near the border with Belgium have clamped down on drug tourism, and the Dutch minister for security and justice confirmed on Wednesday a wider crackdown after coalition parties agreed to push for a ban in September.

The government, which took office last month, has agreed to limit the sale of cannabis to Dutch residents to curb crime linked to its production and trading.

"No tourist attractions. We don't like that," the minister, Ivo Opstelten, told public broadcaster NOS on Wednesday.

"The heart of the problem is crime and disturbances surrounding the sale. We have to go back to what it was meant for: local use for those who would like it."

Amsterdam, home to 223 coffee shops, is already in the process of closing some in the red light district to tackle criminal activity in the area, and was studying the government proposal.

"We are taking the current practice as a starting point. It is not perfect but in many ways we have a functioning coffee shop system," an Amsterdam city spokesman said.

The government's plans for a tourist ban, whereby only holders of a resident's pass would be allowed to buy hash, has not yet been formally put into law and no timeframe has been proposed.

The possession of up to 5 grams (0.18 oz) of cannabis or hash is allowed in the Netherlands but large-scale production and transport is a crime.

Some Dutch border towns such as Maastricht and Terneuzen have already restricted the sale of marijuana to foreigners to limit crime and disturbances such as traffic jams.

The advocate-general of the European Court of Justice advised in July that Maastricht had the right to refuse foreigners entry to its coffee shops, giving support to the Dutch government's nationwide ban if the court followed the advice.

Source

[ZBeebs]

The government's plans for a tourist ban, whereby only holders of a resident's pass would be allowed to buy hash, has not yet been formally put into law and no timeframe has been proposed.

There is nothing new here. Are you trying to get people all excited?

[donpacino]

Up in smoke! Dutch to ban tourists from buying pot
By Gilbert Kreijger
11-17-2010

The Netherlands' proposed 'coffee shop' restrictions part of crackdown on drug crime

Amsterdam has plans to close some of the 223 'coffee shops' in the red-light district to tackle criminal activity in the area.

The Dutch government said on Wednesday it wanted to ban tourists from buying cannabis in "coffee shops," where hash is on sale legally, as part of a national crackdown on drug use.

The Netherlands has one of Europe's most liberal soft drug policies and its coffee shops are a popular tourist attraction, especially in Amsterdam and border cities near Belgium and Germany.

But some cities near the border with Belgium have clamped down on drug tourism, and the Dutch minister for security and justice confirmed on Wednesday a wider crackdown after coalition parties agreed to push for a ban in September.

The government, which took office last month, has agreed to limit the sale of cannabis to Dutch residents to curb crime linked to its production and trading.

"No tourist attractions. We don't like that," the minister, Ivo Opstelten, told public broadcaster NOS on Wednesday.

"The heart of the problem is crime and disturbances surrounding the sale. We have to go back to what it was meant for: local use for those who would like it."

Amsterdam, home to 223 coffee shops, is already in the process of closing some in the red light district to tackle criminal activity in the area, and was studying the government proposal.

"We are taking the current practice as a starting point. It is not perfect but in many ways we have a functioning coffee shop system," an Amsterdam city spokesman said.

The government's plans for a tourist ban, whereby only holders of a resident's pass would be allowed to buy hash, has not yet been formally put into law and no timeframe has been proposed.

The possession of up to 5 grams (0.18 oz) of cannabis or hash is allowed in the Netherlands but large-scale production and transport is a crime.

Some Dutch border towns such as Maastricht and Terneuzen have already restricted the sale of marijuana to foreigners to limit crime and disturbances such as traffic jams.

The advocate-general of the European Court of Justice advised in July that Maastricht had the right to refuse foreigners entry to its coffee shops, giving support to the Dutch government's nationwide ban if the court followed the advice.

Source

Athough i am worried about the future and i definately think change is on the horizon in one way or another stories like this and the few others that came out yesterday are basically implying it is allready in effect, like someone pointed out to me all these stories are is scaremongering by various journalists from over the world, i read one story from an american journalist who states that "all of hollands 223 coffee shops no longer sell to tourists", correct me if im wrong but doesnt holland have something like 700+ coffee shops? And like i said above, the ban is not in effect yet so this journalist is just talking rubbish. Another story said the mastrich no longer allows tourists in there coffee shops, this is also untrue, they trialed it while back but it was stopped while it went to court and has not been reinstated, this can be confirmed by the various trip reports and coffee shops reviews submitted by members of this forum, most of them tourists to holland, over the past year.

If or when this ban takes place it wont just happen over night, there will be parliament debates, court battles and then at last hurdle a time of notice to allow coffee shops to prepare, remember these are legitimate buisness' who pay tax. And if you do a google search this idea was first mentioned in 2005, 2008 and again in 2009, seems like a lot of talk to me, to much talk maybe?????

As hard as it may be, and i have found it really difficult to do myself (just read my previous posts over past few months on this topic) i wouldnt worry about it until you here something official

[NedFlanders]

it looks like the vvd in amsterdam is against the pass system in amysterdam itself. they find that teh ban is a good idea for the border towns, but not for a city like amsterdam. So it will for sure not be an easy debate, if even the party of the prime has differnt positions.

http://www.powned.tv/nieuws/politiek/20 ... ietpas.htm

[smokseyj]

there will be such a downwards multiplier effect that i don't see this happening for a while...It won't just effect coffeeshops as we all know, this is going to hit hotels, restaurants gift shops, take aways, taxi's etc...almost everything in amsterdam will be effected greatly by the ban. It will take out of everybody's pocket and therefore less money circulating the economy, the whole economy will shrink when Aggregate Demand falls....

[Marco]

The government's plans for a tourist ban, whereby only holders of a resident's pass would be allowed to buy hash, has not yet been formally put into law and no timeframe has been proposed.

There is nothing new here. Are you trying to get people all excited?

Oh but this is new, the Justice Minister just made it clear there will be no exceptions for touristic areas.

Audio here in Dutch

http://nos.nl/audio/199070-coffeeshopto ... breng.html

[SGawain235]

Meh. I'm still not quite to the point where I'm freaking out. From what I've read the new government has finally gotten to the point where they could, in theory, agree what to order from Chinese take out.

I am not really confident that they have the unity and will to implement coffeeshop restrictions.

TBH, it looks like they have a lot of other things that they are far more interested in implementing.

They might try later in the game to enact new CS regs once they have lost some credibility and got shut down once or twice trying to ban burkas.

[NedFlanders]

"the Dutch minister for security and justice confirmed on Wednesday a wider crackdown after coalition parties agreed to push for a ban in September."

sorry my english is not very good. what does that mean? did the parties agreed last september or is the plan to introduce the ban next september>?

[TwoCanucks]

Some Dutch border towns such as Maastricht and Terneuzen have already restricted the sale of marijuana to foreigners to limit crime and disturbances such as traffic jams.

Traffic jams? Really? Really?

There's got to be bigger issues bothering the Dutch than the reduction of traffic jams caused by all these tourists!!!!

omg!!! traffic jams outside coffee shops!!! it MUST end!

[Marco]

Some Dutch border towns such as Maastricht and Terneuzen have already restricted the sale of marijuana to foreigners to limit crime and disturbances such as traffic jams.

Traffic jams? Really? Really?

There's got to be bigger issues bothering the Dutch than the reduction of traffic jams caused by all these tourists!!!!

omg!!! traffic jams outside coffee shops!!! it MUST end!

Well, I know someone from a border town and apparently it is quite a bother to people who live there (this is based on one person who I know well, so do not think I know what everyone thinks).

[smokseyj]

i think i might base my economics essay for uni around this subject......at least i'd be interested in doing the research.

The more and more i think about it, the less it makes sense to ban it from tourists. What else could the government possible do to recoup the money that would be lost?

[NedFlanders]

i think changes are pretty sure. what do you think is a realistic time till a ban could be installed. i wanted to make a trip in summer, is worth to bokk or is it too risky?

[TwoCanucks]

Some Dutch border towns such as Maastricht and Terneuzen have already restricted the sale of marijuana to foreigners to limit crime and disturbances such as traffic jams.

Traffic jams? Really? Really?

There's got to be bigger issues bothering the Dutch than the reduction of traffic jams caused by all these tourists!!!!

omg!!! traffic jams outside coffee shops!!! it MUST end!

Well, I know someone from a border town and apparently it is quite a bother to people who live there (this is based on one person who I know well, so do not think I know what everyone thinks).

Marco, is this from cars coming and going in front of shops? I guess I never really thought about those taking it back across the border. In reality, wouldn't it be wiser to increase border scans for drugs, instead of punishing tourists who might be willing to stay and smoke if they can't take it home?

cheers

[Boner]

I love the way people are atill coming back to the money aspect, does Barcelona, Paris, Madrid, Brussels, London and so on rely on cannabis for their touist money? Amsterdam is obviously the biggest cash cow in Holland and has a sleazy name attached to it because of the cannabis and rld, if they got rid of both they could quite easily rebrand themselves as a city of culture and imo that would more than recoup what they'd lose in cannabis tourists.

Sorry to say this but if you're planning on a trip to Amsterdam for the coffeeshops I'd so in the next 6 months as I think the clock is ticking.

[Marco]

Some Dutch border towns such as Maastricht and Terneuzen have already restricted the sale of marijuana to foreigners to limit crime and disturbances such as traffic jams.

Traffic jams? Really? Really?

There's got to be bigger issues bothering the Dutch than the reduction of traffic jams caused by all these tourists!!!!

omg!!! traffic jams outside coffee shops!!! it MUST end!

Well, I know someone from a border town and apparently it is quite a bother to people who live there (this is based on one person who I know well, so do not think I know what everyone thinks).

Marco, is this from cars coming and going in front of shops? I guess I never really thought about those taking it back across the border. In reality, wouldn't it be wiser to increase border scans for drugs, instead of punishing tourists who might be willing to stay and smoke if they can't take it home?

cheers

From lots of things. Increased crime, anti-socials on the streets. Tons of traffic, etc.

This is not directed at you personally, but I think your original (somewhat sarcastic ) comment about the Dutch having bigger issues is a bit misguided. If the people in those towns are bothered, its everyone's problem. Its their country and their communities, you know?

As for drug scans, how would the Dutch scan for drugs at the border. There are no border and its not the Dutch police's job to find and arrest (costs $$$) foreigners illegally taking cannabis into another country.

I personally think the main reason the law is going to be changed is that the Dutch are getting lots of pressure from the EU to stop the flow of drugs from the border towns.

These new laws scare me, but we have to realize its a two-way street and if having severe restrictions in the border towns is what it takes, I think that is fair.