Pubdate: Fri, 22 Nov 2013
Source: Forbes Magazine (US)
Copyright: 2013 Forbes Inc.
Contact:  http://www.forbes.com/forbes/current/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/769
Author: Cecilla Rodrigues

MARIJUANA PROHIBITION CLOSING IN ON AMSTERDAM?

Amsterdam Coffee Shop Amsterdam Coffee Shops near schools will have to
close during school hours

Amsterdam's mayor, Eberhard van der Laan, recently announced that as
of next January, cannabis cafes located within 250 meters of secondary
schools must close their doors during school hours. And that has given
new impetus to the ongoing - often vehement - national debate over the
Netherlands' marijuana policy.

Despite repeated assertions about his intention to keep the city's
coffee shops - cafes where small amounts of cannabis are sold - open
to everyone, against national requirements to the contrary, the
decision seems to indicate a new turn around a complicated issue that
has set the national government against progressive mayors of major
cities with Van der Laan at their head.

Since January 1, 2013, coffee shops have been required to ensure that
only legal residents of the Netherlands are allowed to buy cannabis
products. However, the legislation permits 'local circumstances' to be
factored in, which many mayors use to evade monitoring whether
tourists are slipping into their cities' coffee shops.

The previous government in May introduced a wietpas system in the
south of the country - a special "weed pass" allowing residents to
shop in the cannabis cafes - and planned to extend it nationwide next
year. While the new government coalition dropped the registration
system, it still wants to keep pot tourists out.

At least nearly two million of Amsterdam's seven million annual
tourists visit one of the city's 220 cannabis cafes. The Netherlands
has some 650 coffee shops.

The 31 coffee shops affected by the "near a school" measure will be
permitted to open from 6 p.m. and can keep regular hours at weekends
and during school holidays.

But for many Dutch, the decision could be seen as the first step
toward an eventual closure altogether of the cafes, which is what the
central government has intended for years. 'This cannot be true," a
representative of the local association of cannabis retailers told
Dutch News. "It's going to cause problems and distance from a school
is a non-issue. This policy is directed at school pupils but the
under-18s don't get into a coffee shop anyway because of the tough
controls."

Amsterdam's mayor insisted that tourists will not be banned from most
of the Netherlands' cannabis cafes. Two-thirds of them continue to
sell marijuana to tourists, despite the ban, according to a recent
survey of major cities that included Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and
The Hague.

Other surveys, as well as police and city council figures, document
that the decision to ban foreigners in the southern provinces and turn
the cannabis cafes into members'only clubs has led to an 'explosion'
in drug-related crime.

The media reported recently that in Maastricht, at the forefront of
efforts to reduce drug tourism, the number of drug related crimes has
doubled over the past year and that drug dealing has moved into
residential areas.

Even the mayor of Maastricht, Onno Hoes, one of the staunchest
defenders of the ban, had to admit that the membership cards were not
working and has relented to permit locals to buy marijuana without
them. He hopes that will reduce the number of street dealers who have
appeared since the wietpass was introduced in his city.

He"s holding firm to the policy of banning non-residents from coffee
shops, though, which is what the defenders of a free, legalized
marijuana market are afraid will be the next step in the efforts by
the central government to rid the country of cannabis tourism.