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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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NL: Coffee shops in decline
Expatica.com Tuesday 21 Oct 2003 AMSTERDAM - The number of coffee shops in the Netherlands continues to decline, with new figures indicating there were 782 legal establishments last year, 3 percent less than 2001. The Netherlands had almost 1,200 cannabis coffee shops in 1997, but that number has steadily declined since 1998, due in part to stricter regulations. But in contrast to the general decline in coffee shop numbers, the number of coffee shops in small municipalities - those with less than 20,000 people - has slightly increased. The number of marijuana cafes in small towns rose from 105 to 107 last year, Dutch associated press ANP reported. Furthermore, research bureau Intraval - which conducts the studies on assignment from the Justice Ministry - said the number off municipalities without a coffee shop decreased last year. Only 3 percent of the nation's 496 municipalities do not have a coffee shop The annual Intraval report, the fourth of its kind, also indicated that two-thirds of Dutch municipalities tried to keep the sale of soft drugs away from schools. About 50 percent of coffee shops are located at least 250m from schools. Along the German border, one out of every 13 municipalities with one or more official coffee shop maintains a minimum distance requirement. The Dutch coffee shop, long the bane of foreign countries opposed to the Dutch toleration of soft drugs, narrowly escaped looming anti-smoking regulations forcing employers to provide a smoke free workplace. [Copyright Expatica News 2003]
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