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Amsterdam weighs ban on 'coffee shop' tourism [View all]
Source: Deutsche Welle
Date 08.01.2021
Amsterdam weighs ban on 'coffee shop' tourism
The Netherlands' largest city has long been a haven for cannabis users around the world. But the mayor did not want the city to become only known as "a place of soft drugs tourism."
Tourists' plans to enter Amsterdam's famous "coffee shops" after the coronavirus pandemic may go up in smoke as the city's mayor considered banning foreigners from entering the shops.
Mayor Femke Halsema said many of the ever-increasing-number of tourists in The Netherlands' largest city were there simply to consume cannabis in the euphemistically named "coffee shops" and had become a problem for locals.
"Amsterdam is an international city and we wish to attract tourists, but we would like them to come for its richness, its beauty and its cultural institutions," said Halsema on Dutch public broadcaster NOS on Friday.
The public prosecutor and the police supported the move.
Why is Amsterdam known for cannabis?
It is technically illegal to consume cannabis in the country, but possession of fewer than 5 grams (0.18 ounces) was decriminalized in 1976 under a so-called "tolerance" policy. In principle, only Dutch residents are allowed to purchase cannabis in so-called "coffee shops," but there is an exception for shops in Amsterdam.
-snip-
Amsterdam weighs ban on 'coffee shop' tourism
The Netherlands' largest city has long been a haven for cannabis users around the world. But the mayor did not want the city to become only known as "a place of soft drugs tourism."
Tourists' plans to enter Amsterdam's famous "coffee shops" after the coronavirus pandemic may go up in smoke as the city's mayor considered banning foreigners from entering the shops.
Mayor Femke Halsema said many of the ever-increasing-number of tourists in The Netherlands' largest city were there simply to consume cannabis in the euphemistically named "coffee shops" and had become a problem for locals.
"Amsterdam is an international city and we wish to attract tourists, but we would like them to come for its richness, its beauty and its cultural institutions," said Halsema on Dutch public broadcaster NOS on Friday.
The public prosecutor and the police supported the move.
Why is Amsterdam known for cannabis?
It is technically illegal to consume cannabis in the country, but possession of fewer than 5 grams (0.18 ounces) was decriminalized in 1976 under a so-called "tolerance" policy. In principle, only Dutch residents are allowed to purchase cannabis in so-called "coffee shops," but there is an exception for shops in Amsterdam.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.dw.com/en/amsterdam-weighs-ban-on-coffee-shop-tourism/a-56177031
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