Up to 200 police officers were involved in halting an annual marijuana ‘trade fair’ in Amsterdam on Wednesday afternoon, according to local media reports.

The raid ended the 24th edition of the High Times Cannabis Cup which was taking place in a sports hall in the Amsterdam suburb of Zuidoost.
All visitors and stallholders were searched and ordered to hand over their soft drugs. One man who had 700 grammes of marijuana was arrested. Under Dutch drugs laws, people are allowed to have up to five grammes for personal use.
Tax officials
However, according to local television station AT5, exhibitors had been told they were not allowed to have any marijuana at the venue.
Tax officials also questioned stallholders about their products, sales and receipts, according to one eyewitness.
‘This is a closed event for cannabis aficionados from all over the world which celebrates cannabis culture in all its facets: spiritual, medicinal, industrial and recreational,’ according to a statement from a group campaigning to have marijuana legalized.
‘Since the first edition in 1988, this event has never caused problems or a nuisance and participants are explicitly asked to be discrete and respectful during their time in Amsterdam.’
Tougher policy
The Netherlands is currently cracking down on the local marijuana industry and is working on plans to ban all but official residents from using the country’s licenced cannabis cafes, known as coffee shops.
Shops selling equipment and seeds to grow marijuana are also being targeted.