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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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NL: Tourist-free coffee shops rejected
Expatica.com Thursday 23 Oct 2003 AMSTERDAM - Municipalities and coffee shop owners have strongly rejected Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner's proposal to prevent drug tourism by only allowing Dutch residents to visit the nation's infamous cannabis cafes. The conservative Christian Democrat CDA minister said marijuana sales could in future be restricted by the introduction of a pass card or membership system. This would assist in hindering cross-border drug tourism, he said. The minister said coffee shop customers might also be required to show their passports, but he did not intend to introduce the system himself. It will be up to municipalities and coffee shops to launch such a system, Dutch associated press ANP reported. But coffee shop union BCD said the plan was "worthless". A union spokesman said a membership system would cause a lot of street troubles: "Dealers in hard drugs will take the trade over". The Venlo Council shared the union's concerns, claiming that it would result in an explosive increase in the illegal trade of drugs runners. The city council said it wished to speak with the minister about the consequences of his plan as soon as possible. Venlo, located in the east of the country on the German border, has five officially tolerated coffee shops and an unknown number of illegal shops. It is also planning to establish two shops nearer to the German border to reduce the nuisance factor for city centre residents. The BCD also said coffee shops in Amsterdam and the border areas were not dependent upon foreigners. "Even in the summer months, 70 percent of my clients are Dutch," said a spokesman from a coffee shop on Amsterdam's Oudezijds Voorburgwal. The Enschede Council said it did not wish to comment prematurely, while the Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) said it wanted to wait for definite plans before assessing reactions from its member councils. Minister Donner launched his coffee shop proposal in Berlin on Wednesday amid great pressure from German Interior Minister Otto Schily, who strongly criticised Dutch efforts in the war against drugs. The Netherlands' toleration of soft drugs has long been a bane for its foreign neighbours. The minister was visiting his German counterpart to discuss drugs problems, border operations and co-operation in the war against terrorism, an NOS news report said. Meanwhile, the minister also said that a treaty should be signed regulating police operation in border areas to allow German or Dutch police officers to operate across the border in emergencies. The treaty would also allow police to operate across the border in more run-of-the-mill occasions, such as football matches. To combat the drugs trade between Amsterdam, the Netherlands Antilles and Suriname, the minister said he intended to intensify "risk flight" inspections at airports in the Antilles and Suriname. If drugs are regularly intercepted, the flights might be scrapped, he warned. The Netherlands set up several emergencies jails last year to cope with an alarming increase in drug smuggling arrests on flights arriving from the Antilles. The smugglers usually transport the drugs by swallowing them first. [Copyright Expatica News 2003]
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