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Netherlands: Cannabis cafes to be compensated over tourist laws
Canberra Times Wednesday 05 Jun 2013 The so-called "cannabis card" law was introduced on May 1 last year in three southern provinces and effectively aimed at transforming coffee shops into private clubs, requiring them to only sell cannabis to registered members who are Dutch residents and to stop all sales to foreigners. The law's introduction aimed at addressing the downsides of drug tourism - traffic jams, street dealing and rowdy late-night partying. "Part of the cannabis card law has disproportionately infringed the interests of coffee shop clients, leading to financial losses during several months," The Hague District Court ruled on Wednesday. Advertisement "Clients have been scared away," the court added, referring to Dutch smokers who would have been put off from visiting coffee shops because they were required to give their names and identities. The court, however, upheld the sales ban to foreigners and said if that part of the law was simply applied it would have had the desired effect in bringing down problems associated with cross-border drug tourism in the southern part of the country. Therefore, the "state now have to compensate a number of coffee shops" in the provinces of Limburg, North Brabant and Zeeland, the court ruled, saying exact numbers are to be calculated at a later stage. A new, more leftwing government in November shelved the cannabis-card law, but said that individual city authorities could still decide whether to apply the law affecting some 650 establishments across the country, according to their economic or social priorities. Although cannabis is technically illegal in the Netherlands, the country in 1976 decriminalised possession of less than five grams of the substance. Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/travel/travel-news/cannabis-cafes-to-be-compensated-over-tourist-laws-20130606-2nroo.html#ixzz2VQ5XJBd9
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