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Tourism prompts cannabis cafe closureThursday 23 October 2008 The towns of Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom on the Dutch-Belgian border are to close down all the cafes which sell marijuana because of the problems being caused by drug tourists, reports the NRC on Thursday. The paper says every week 25,500 French and Belgian nationals flock to the towns to buy marijuana from their eight so-called coffee shops. The influx of tourists is causing traffic congestion, petty crime and street dealing, and all efforts to reduce the nuisance have failed, the paper quotes local officials as saying. Official Dutch drugs policy means users can have up to five grammes of marijuana without being prosecuted. Coffee shops can have up to 500 grammes in stock. The two town councils say they have no plans to compensate coffee shop owners for the loss of business. 'They should be happy we have tolerated them for so long,' Roosendaal mayor Michel Marijnen told the paper. The border crack down is the latest in a string of extra controls being placed on the thriving Dutch marijuana trade. The cabinet is already looking at ways to reduce drugs tourism following complaints from Belgium and Germany. And in March, health minister Ab Klink agreed to carry out a 30-year review of Holland's liberal drugs policy following concerns from MPs. Amsterdam and Rotterdam have also taken steps to reduce the number of coffee shops close to schools. For the full nrc report, click here Does Dutch drugs policy need an overhaul? To take part in our poll, click here © DutchNews.nl Get the DutchNews.nl newsletter in your mailbox: Click here to subscribe
'They should be happy we have tolerated them for so long,' Roosendaal mayor Michel Marijnen told the paper. Interesting statement! They are still tax paying businesses, with the same Rights (to compensation) as any other tax paying business. This is really brilliant! We have a so-called Christian Government and Local Government persecuting coffeeshops ... and by doing this they are also persecuting the seriously ill, and the terminally ill patients, whom the Huisarts (GPs) are sending to the coffeeshops, in favour of the prescribable Ministrie versions. The Doctors tells us that the Government only want cannabis as a medicine prescribed at a few 'specialist' hospitals around Holland - making it as difficult, time consuming, and expensive to get access to a vital medicine, that has no alternative, quickly, as in the UK - some patients deteriortate rapidly and even die without it. By Gerard | October 23, 2008 5:15 PM This is unreal. Do you really think that marijuana is so bad that all the tourists that go to Netherlands for the weed are problems? Think again. The problems come because no other country will allow any weed smoking or possession and so everyone who wants to smoke goes to Netherlands. The problems come from the people, not the weed. Stop the tourism to Netherlands by allowing smoking of weed in other countries, then the problem people will stay in their own country. By katyknock | October 23, 2008 10:52 PM Well, I'm told the French are a creative bunch of People, so they can put this in their pipe and smoke it too! Bye bye By Kimmy | October 24, 2008 4:26 AM I read the other day that tourism is down in the Netherlands (of course the officials say because of the economy, I think its because they are changing the culture of the Netherlands)...so let me get this straight, because 25,500 tourists come to the Netherlands to buy a dutch product, the Netherlands is telling them to go home because they are a nuisance...do I have that right? I live in Amsterdam and the only "nuisance" I experience are all the tourists coming to Amsterdam to drink and drink and drink and certainly never visit smoke shops. So when do the moralists start closing down the beer bars. I think not! By alanposting | October 24, 2008 7:45 AM well... what can i say?? By s.lopes | October 24, 2008 9:44 AM The local government could simply insist that Coffee Shops check ID's and stop selling drugs to foreigners. This is just an excuse to force the masses to follow some unhealthy unscientific moral attitude about cannabis. Pity that the politicians keep forgetting they are supposed to be serving the peoples will instead of their own. Let’s hope the CDA are kicked out of power next election and local government goes back to representing the masses instead of the religious zealots in central government. By Gray | October 24, 2008 10:08 AM All this will do is to put dealing back onto the streets. Now if a 18 year old wants to buy some cannabis, they will also be offered cocaine, x and heroin. If anyone thinks this will not happen, well, I have seen it first hand in Maastricht. So good job, make sure to close those evil coffeeshops down, because the street dealers on your local corner were running out of customers! By BC | October 26, 2008 3:19 PM Place your comments: |
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Why are those tourists coming here?
Because their own countries don't take any responsibillity. Those countries say the Netherlands is the problem, but those problems are created by some of the people from the countries like Belgium, France, or Germany that visit the Netherlands.
The Dutch aproach proved to work in the past.
Coffeeshops don't mean more use of Cannabis!
The use of Cannabis is lower then the most other countries around the Netherlands.
But for the prohibists aproach the coffeeshops are a proof that prohibition doesn't work.
That's why the coffeeshops have to disapear.
Green Prisoners Release...
Peace, Green Ambassador
By Green Ambassador | October 23, 2008 3:33 PM