Just 30% of Amsterdammers who buy marijuana in the city’s cannabis cafes would register as an official user when new rules to keep tourists out are introduced, according to research by the city council.
The government is planning to turn so-called coffee shops into members’ only clubs, which only official residents of the Netherlands will be able to join. Users will have to show a membership card in order to buy soft drugs.
But the research shows most cannabis users will either grow their own, buy direct from a grower or turn to street dealers instead.
Amsterdam city council is strongly opposed to the government’s plans, arguing it will lead to a return to street dealing. 0011名無しさん@お腹いっぱい。2011/08/20(土) 11:37:46.39ID:aEILQ7Wq Tilburg votes against cannabis club plan, opposition grows
Tuesday 05 July 2011
Tilburg city council has voted against government plans to introduce registration for cannabis users to keep tourists out of the 'coffee shops', reports news agency ANP.
Mayor Peter Noordanus, who argued for the introduction of the cannabis pass, has been told by his council not to accept the system unless the government makes it compulsory.
Tilburg is the fourth of Brabant's cities to oppose the closed club system. Breda, Den Bosch and Eindhoven already voted against it. The city councils of The Hague, Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht and Maastricht are also opposed.
Tilburg, like the other cities, is worried that turning coffee shops into closed clubs will lead to an increase in street dealing. 0012名無しさん@お腹いっぱい。2011/08/20(土) 11:45:26.85ID:aEILQ7Wq Maastricht to ban French nationals from cannabis cafes, but not Belgians
Thursday 04 August 2011
Cannabis cafes in Maastricht are to ban French and some other EU nationals from their premises as part of a plan to reduce the nuisance caused by marijuana smokers, the AD reports.
However, German and Belgian nationals will not be kept out when the ban is introduced in October, the paper says, quoting Marc Josemans, of the local cannabis cafe owners association.
According to Josemans, the ban will reduce the number of marijuana tourists coming to the border town by some 500,000 a year - or 20% of the total. Some 70% of the city's coffee shop customers come from abroad.
Visitors from Germany and Belgium will still be allowed in the cafes because the two countries border the Netherlands, the AD says.
City council
The paper says Maastricht city council 'takes note of the plan but does not support it'. And, it points out, the plan can be considered discriminatory because not all foreigners are being banned.
The council has been trying to reduce drugs tourism for several years.
The national government already has plans to stop everyone who is not an official resident of the Netherlands from buying marijuana in coffee shops by turning them all into members' only clubs.
The European court of justice has said this is technically possible under EU law. 0013名無しさん@お腹いっぱい。2011/08/20(土) 12:14:15.55ID:aEILQ7Wq - How does the population of Amsterdam react to these planned changes?
People of Amsterdam do not want their city to be a capital of junkies and drug addicts from all over the world. But at the same time, they are for tolerance and accessibility of the soft drugs. They would prefer to have the scene more quiet, but not necessarily smaller. Any kind of sharp restrictions will have an opposite effect to that intended - criminal world would control the sphere which eventually would become illegal, and would reap profits from the limitations.
- If I arrive to Amsterdam coming months (2011), shall I be able to legally buy marijuana?
There are no immediate plans of direct changes in the drug policy in Amsterdam, noticeable to a tourist. Some coffee shops will close, but many will remain. If the new change of the law will be announced, we shall advise our readers about it. As for now, every person above 18 may enter the coffee shop. Your ID may be required to check your age. 0014チーチョンLOVE2011/08/20(土) 12:49:18.70ID:cMAx9LeW 情報弱者のサンケイ 0015名無しさん@お腹いっぱい。2011/08/20(土) 14:04:17.36ID:KG+btizM>>9 『国外に持ち出しての違法販売などが深刻化』ってソースがまったく見つからないなw