7greeneyes
MedicalNLovingIt!
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2008
- Messages
- 8,071
- Reaction score
- 789
url: h420p://travel.msn.co.nz/travelnews/8463427/netherlands-bans-cannabis-for-tourists
Netherlands bans cannabis for tourists
The day many travellers feared would come has finally arrived. The Netherlands will now enforce a controversial new ban on the sale of cannabis to foreign tourists.
The move has angered owners of the marijuana-selling "coffee shops" that draw throngs of tourists to popular areas in the Dutch capital Amsterdam and other cities.
Now, only residents who sign up for a "weed pass" will be able to purchase cannabis from these venues.
In the southern city of Maastricht, the Easy Going coffee shop was one of the first places to feel the pinch of the new laws after selling cannabis to at least two customers from Belgium and Germany. Police issued a warning to the shop's owner, outspoken pro-pot campaigner Marc Josemans, to stop selling to tourists within 24 hours, AFP reports.
"I think the cannabis card is discriminatory and trouble in the streets will grow in the weeks to come," Josemans said.
Still, Josemans vows to continue selling to non-residents. Fourteen other coffee shops in Maastricht closed their doors for the day in protest, while 200 smokers took the streets.
Many Maastricht residents hope the laws will curb traffic jams, late-night misbehaviour and drug pushers who rely on tourist demand.
The new rules will roll out in three Dutch provinces today, and take wider effect across The Netherlands next year. Amsterdam, home to a third of the country's coffee shops, may escape the ban the city opposes the laws, and the recent collapse of the national government raises questions about whether the change will be implemented at all.
The country's 670 licensed coffee shops are set to take a hit, practically becoming private clubs for up to 2000 card-carrying members only.
Surprisingly, for all the fuss about the green ban, the drug is technically illegal in The Netherlands. In 1976, the country decriminalised possession of less than five grammes of the substance, so people are only really allowed small marijuana usage.
Netherlands bans cannabis for tourists
The day many travellers feared would come has finally arrived. The Netherlands will now enforce a controversial new ban on the sale of cannabis to foreign tourists.
The move has angered owners of the marijuana-selling "coffee shops" that draw throngs of tourists to popular areas in the Dutch capital Amsterdam and other cities.
Now, only residents who sign up for a "weed pass" will be able to purchase cannabis from these venues.
In the southern city of Maastricht, the Easy Going coffee shop was one of the first places to feel the pinch of the new laws after selling cannabis to at least two customers from Belgium and Germany. Police issued a warning to the shop's owner, outspoken pro-pot campaigner Marc Josemans, to stop selling to tourists within 24 hours, AFP reports.
"I think the cannabis card is discriminatory and trouble in the streets will grow in the weeks to come," Josemans said.
Still, Josemans vows to continue selling to non-residents. Fourteen other coffee shops in Maastricht closed their doors for the day in protest, while 200 smokers took the streets.
Many Maastricht residents hope the laws will curb traffic jams, late-night misbehaviour and drug pushers who rely on tourist demand.
The new rules will roll out in three Dutch provinces today, and take wider effect across The Netherlands next year. Amsterdam, home to a third of the country's coffee shops, may escape the ban the city opposes the laws, and the recent collapse of the national government raises questions about whether the change will be implemented at all.
The country's 670 licensed coffee shops are set to take a hit, practically becoming private clubs for up to 2000 card-carrying members only.
Surprisingly, for all the fuss about the green ban, the drug is technically illegal in The Netherlands. In 1976, the country decriminalised possession of less than five grammes of the substance, so people are only really allowed small marijuana usage.
