The organisers of dance parties in Amsterdam must ensure their events are drugs free or face losing their licences, the city council’s executive board said on Friday.

Even though dance events are of cultural and economic importance to the city, drugs should not be a part of this, the council said.
Event organisers must, therefore, make sure they have proper security checks and people caught with hard drugs should be handed over to the police, the council said.
News agency ANP says the public prosecution department is drawing up guidelines to ensure all dance parties are treated in the same way.
The department is expected to publish recommendations on hard drugs possession along the lines of the situation with soft drugs in March, ANP says. Although cannabis is not legal, the possession of up to five grammes is not prosecuted.