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AMSTERDAM’S FAMOUS COFFEE shops will remain open for business with foreign thrill-seekers despite the new government’s plan to restrict sales to locals only, the mayor said today.
In an interview with the leftist Volkskrant, Eberhard van der Laan said the city’s 220 coffee shops will continue to sell pot to customers even if they don’t reside in the Netherlands.
A Dutch coalition government, likely to be formed under re-elected Liberal Prime Minister Mark Rutte, is planning to restrict cannabis sales to tourists and require residents to show identification when entering some 670 coffee shops around the country.
The new plan replaces the unpopular so-called “cannabis card” law which also stopped foreigners from buying pot but compelled locals to join cannabis cafes and having their names registered in a database.
Some 1.5 million out of an estimated seven million foreign tourists to Amsterdam make a stop at one of its many coffee shops, the paper said.
“These 1.5 million foreign visitors are not going to say: ‘Ok, then no more weed.’ They will roam across the city looking for drugs,” said Van der Laan.
This will increase the crime rate, “with fights over fake drugs and no quality control. Misery will return.”
“If tourists are banned, all the advantages of our coffee shop system will be undone,” added Van der Laan, also a vehement opponent of the now scrapped cannabis card law.
The now redundant law came into effect on 1 May in three southern provinces and its coverage was to broaden in January next year to include all coffee shops across the Netherlands.
It was introduced to curb drug-tourism related phenomena like late-night revelry, traffic jams and hard drug dealing, but its detractors say it has simply pushed drug peddling onto the streets and led to a rise in criminality.
Although cannabis is technically illegal in the Netherlands, the country in 1976 decriminalised possession of less than five grammes (around a sixth of an ounce) of the substance.
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Don’t agree. The future may be in better hands with young people like these. They have at least taken some action.
spot on
Fair play to them!
He became an activist after watching 1 film twice in 1 day?
does that make me an avenger then?
I watched Debbie does Dallas 3 times in one day…
What is going to happen to me? :(
You’re gonna go blind Tal :)
Fools
at least they’re standing up for what they believe in and want to make the world a better place. It beats being silent or just moaning about.
Wonder who is providing the funding for this little venture. There’s more to this than meets the eye.
Properly some green nazi lobby that’s supporting Obama
Activist’s strike again! The culture has gone mad!
Lol they look like they want to destroy every bit of industry left in the world and play their play stations at the same time
Refreshing to see young people putting their energies into something positive even if it turns out to be a fruitless endeavour. They should be encouraged and applauded.
Climate change/Global warming is one of the biggest scams in the world. Its just another excuse for the elite to tax the life out of us now and for years to come. This is a pathetic story. How about exposing the hoax instead!
Would agree to a certain extent- I wouldnt say its the elite taxing the life out of us though. Its just another excuse for governments to earn tax!
I read an article recently saying that in the 1960′s there was 1,800 weather stations in the USA, By 1990 there was only 1,000, now its something like 700. The shut all the ones in hard to service areas, ie in the mountains etc, where it is colder. This is not factored in when comparing temperature avergages from the 1960′s or 1990′s to today. This may only be in the U.S that this has happened but alot of the global warming brigade use American figures…
Well thats a relief, can you show me where you heard this? I’d like some proof before I ignite an oil well In celebration.
oh dear god!
we are on the eve of destruction..anything that buys us a few more minutes is worth it
Omg this must be a late April fools joke!
Ever heard of the greenhouse effect??? More carbon in the atmosphere = warmer atmosphere
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