Roosendaal
Two Dutch towns on the Netherlands' border with Belgium have had enough. Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom are closing down the towns' cannabis-selling 'coffee shops', although the practice of selling small amounts of the soft drug in such cafes has been tolerated for years. This drastic action is necessary because the problems caused by the coffee shops' dealers and customers are getting out of hand.
Roosendaal and Bergen-op-Zoom, two southern border councils, announced last year that their eight coffee shops would be interdicted from selling cannabis from september 2009 in a bid to push back some 25,000 drug tourists per week.
This should make an end, the mayors explained, to the long lines of foreign cars on their roads, hundreds of youths hovering outside coffee shops on weekends, and illegal drug dealers attracted by their presence.
Amsterdam
Among recent steps taken to deal with these problems, Amsterdam has said it would halve its number of coffee shops, citing criminality, while other cities are to close those within a certain radius of schools.
Legalize
Growing cannabis should be legalized, but only if done ecologically, according to a plan published by Amsterdam's Green Party.
Presenting its party programm for next year's local elections, the Green Party said that only if the Netherlands fully liberalized its drug policy, could it regulate the industry and reduce drug- related crime.
The sale and consumption of so-called soft drugs such as marijuana is legal in the Netherlands, but the growing of cannabis, from which marijuana is derived, is not.
The Green Party says that only cannabis farmers who grow their crop ecologically should be licensed.
They say a lack of regulation is the reason why the marijuana that is currently sold in coffee shops often contains dangerously high percentages of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the substance that gives the drug its potency.
Please note that all of this below is not implemented in the Dutch law yet. A draft new drugs policy is to be presented to government by year-end 2009.
Tourists are still very welcome in Amsterdam and its coffee shops!
Tourists no longer welcome in cannabis-selling coffee shops
Published: 9 September 2009
Source nrc.nl
Coffeeshops still allowed
The Dutch government wants to maintain its tolerant policy towards cannabis and keep so-called coffee shops open, but they should no longer be tourist attractions, Dutch ministers wrote in a letter that was leaked to the press on Tuesday.
The ministers of justice, home affairs and health wrote that reducing the number of coffee shops and keeping foreigners out should make it easier to reduce crime and other nuisances the coffee shops are now causing.
Border towns
A government memorandum on altering the coffee shop policy and other drug-related issues is expected this fall, but the letter already shows where the ministers now stand. They want to implement a members-only system to keep tourists out.
Herds of tourist who buy their drugs in border towns near Belgium and Germany have become a pest in several places and neighbouring countries have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Dutch system.
The Netherlands has been tolerant about the use and sale of weed and hash for three decades. Cultivation and wholesale of the drug are prohibited however. This discrepancy has become known as the 'gedoogbeleid' (tolerance policy).
An advisory committee said in July that the policy has gotten out of control in the past 15 years and needs to go back to small, private shops for local users. It advised against legalising soft drugs altogether.
Less appealing for tourists
The ministers want municipalities to implement a members-only system, where members can by up to three grammes of hash or weed each with their (Dutch) bank card. This should make it less appealing for tourists to travel to the Netherlands to buy cannabis. The ministers will also allow experiments where coffeeshops can have larger quantities of drugs stocked. Currently, a coffeeshop can have 500 grammes in store and an alternative supply system via drugs runners is a source of nuisance.
The three coalition parties in the government have long disagreed about the overhaul of the drug policy. Christian democrat CDA had called for an end to the tolerance policy and the orthodox Christian ChristenUnie agreed, but the Labour party PvdA believes banning coffeeshops will not solve the problems of crime, nuisance and health and wants to legalise the whole chain of supply.
link: NRC