Alarmed by the side effects of its tolerant approach to soft drugs, the Dutch government announced plans this week to limit drug tourism by reserving hundreds of cannabis-vending coffee shops for locals.
Dutch government to ban cannabis sales to tourists
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GregCentauro
Banned
they can keep the cheese and tulips to themselves, too.
A bit of an explanation is needed.
Like it's said in the article, I live in a border town which has to deal with a lot of drug tourists. That isn't really much of a problem, unless you live near a coffee shop, but,
1.) coffee shops aren't open 24/7
2.) Coffee shops are generally more expensive than street dealers
Tourists with limited amounts of money and tourists visiting when the coffee shops are closed are in fact fueling criminality. When I go to my own train station with a camera, I'm nearly always asked if I want to buy some pot by kids that should be in school.
Also keep in mind that the sale of cannabis is still illegal in surrounding countries and that a lot of tourists buy cannabis to sell in their own country. Since they officially can only get 5 grams per coffeeshop & since they'd have to hop from coffeshop to coffeeshop to get more than 5 grams it's usually easier to buy larger amounts from street dealers.
Since cannabis is actually grown in the Netherlands these days (15-20 years ago we still imported most of it, because we don't have the climate to grow it), usually in abandoned factories & houses and since most dealers (& their bosses) usually stay close to their source of money, the amount of dealers in border towns has skyrocketed. Combine that with the EU's open border policy & once again with the unwillingness of our neighbors to adopt our policy, has left us in this situation.
Still, since the coffee shops need something to sell & since the indoor plantations won't go away, I doubt it's a solution.
Like it's said in the article, I live in a border town which has to deal with a lot of drug tourists. That isn't really much of a problem, unless you live near a coffee shop, but,
1.) coffee shops aren't open 24/7
2.) Coffee shops are generally more expensive than street dealers
Tourists with limited amounts of money and tourists visiting when the coffee shops are closed are in fact fueling criminality. When I go to my own train station with a camera, I'm nearly always asked if I want to buy some pot by kids that should be in school.
Also keep in mind that the sale of cannabis is still illegal in surrounding countries and that a lot of tourists buy cannabis to sell in their own country. Since they officially can only get 5 grams per coffeeshop & since they'd have to hop from coffeshop to coffeeshop to get more than 5 grams it's usually easier to buy larger amounts from street dealers.
Since cannabis is actually grown in the Netherlands these days (15-20 years ago we still imported most of it, because we don't have the climate to grow it), usually in abandoned factories & houses and since most dealers (& their bosses) usually stay close to their source of money, the amount of dealers in border towns has skyrocketed. Combine that with the EU's open border policy & once again with the unwillingness of our neighbors to adopt our policy, has left us in this situation.
Still, since the coffee shops need something to sell & since the indoor plantations won't go away, I doubt it's a solution.
tartanterrier
Is somewhere outhere.
.....and after the drugs it will then be the ladies 
.....and after the drugs it will then be the ladies
I don't care bout the drugs, but they SHOULDN'T take away the ladies....
Well that's the next step. Within a couple of years there's not much left of the Amsterdam Red Light District. Better get used to it. It's the Islamic/Christian fundamentalists that rule the Dutch nation now. After next elections probably neo-nazis will rule The Netherlands. Liberalism that made this nation such a fine place to live, has pretty much gone extinct.
Luckily there's still a red light district here where I live in Antwerp....
They need to open up one of those shops in Toronto.
Tammy
Tammy
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