Dutch May Stop Cannabis Tourism!

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A Dutch government commission has recommended the end of marijuana related tourism in the Netherlands. They suggest closing all coffeeshops to non-residents, turning them into membership "clubs" instead. The report recommends that only Dutch grown cannabis be sold in such clubs to Dutch residents.

This would mean a drastic cutback in tourism to Dutch cities like Amsterdam and border towns where German, French and Belgians go to buy weed.

In order to allow Dutch grown marijuana to be sold, there would need to be new guidance and laws on the manufacture and distribution of cannabis, which is now illegal under both Dutch and EU laws.

The Dutch system of "clubs" allows for all sorts of quasi legal activities to occur without oversight by law enforcement. I think the Dutch might like this, since they would also be allowed to smoke tobacco again with their cannabis.

Here's the story:
http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/relaxed-dutch-drugs-policy-may-end

 

[FallenBuddha]

first they close down a quarter of the wallen, the original red light district in the heart of the old city, now shutting off cannabis tourism, might as well shut the country down from october until april. the one thing i know about the nederlanders is that they love those tourist dollars, so i highly doubt this will happen, but you never know.

peace -fb

 

[bigherb]

neva happen

 

[eglider]

Now you know its a recession...free trade barriers are popping up all over. Portugal will be happy to take that tourist cash if they can.

 

[alpinestar]

so they honestly want to cut out that much of their tourism?
why?

it totally goes against rational thinking. without the drug tourism, there wont be any tourism to certain areas of the netherlands
and even though some people might like that, its not good from a financial standpoint

many businesses rely on tourism

 

[RockyMountainHi]

it totally goes against rational thinking.

So we might suspect politicians or religious zealots of promoting such laws

Or they may be working together - a thought that boggles the mind!

 

[accessndx]

It's a strange feeling when the U.S. and Canada seem somehow more hospitable than Amsterdam......

I think Rod Serling is going to pop out of my shorts or from behind a door or something any minute....ROFL!

 

[exploziv]

Why to do this? That should bring only problems to them.. I think most of the tourists and people from sourrounding countries who come into NL to buy weed would seek a way to buy weed and some people which reside there will find a way to make money dealing weed to non-residents. This way they'll have way too much cannabis related crimes.

 

[alpinestar]

Why to do this? That should bring only problems to them.. I think most of the tourists and people from sourrounding countries who come into NL to buy weed would seek a way to buy weed and some people which reside there will find a way to make money dealing weed to non-residents. This way they'll have way too much cannabis related crimes.

agreed 100%

 

[exploziv]

And I did forgot about all that weed that gets sold without paying taxes... what is the point to ruin a great source of income and a real good, working system that keeps weed under control and out of reach for minors?

 

[Anti]

There were a few positive aspects of the article:

One of the main problems the Dutch coffeeshops have to deal with is the supply of their goods. While the sale of soft drugs is allowed, growing and supplying them remain illegal. The report acknowledges that this is an almost impossible situation, saying the supply should be allowed under strict rules. The commission also sees possibilities for a regulated way of growing cannabis and other soft drugs.

and this:

Closing coffeeshops is not an option, Mr Van de Donk says: “We need action, not boarding up”.

 

[icmag.is.#1]

Yea, lets go to Amsterdam to visit the horrible ann frank museum. Sounds like fun, right?


no its not

 

[HempKat]

I wonder if this seemingly irrational change in thought is somehow related to that whack job that tried to run into the royal family there?

Seriously though it seems like a pretty bold move to sacrifice revenue in favor of the percieved morals of the elite. If this is even remotely practical from a financial point of view then I applaude the Dutch for having managed their economies so well when every other major economy is struggling.

 

[alphacat]

Stuff like this doesn't happen because of morality - it's only disguised as such. This wouldn't be happening unless the larger wheels of commerce were pressing for it: the E.U. threatening sanctions against the Netherlands as a member nation, or bordering nations pushing for it for some [probably economic] reason.

Not helping are all the tourists (often young Brits, but Aussies, Americans, and others exist too) that are TOTALLY fuckin' amateur and load up on everything they can get their hands on at once - just because they're never had that freedom before. Then they wind up mugged, raped, murdered...

So it becomes an easy sell to the section of the Dutch population that's more compassionate in a 'liberal' sense than concerned with the almighty tourist dollar.

CannaBiz there should seriously think about doing a U.S.-style media/lobbying blitz if they want to hold on to that revenue stream.

 

[AmsterdamnesiA]

I have been going to amsterdam for 15 years and every couple of months there are news articles exactly like this and the situation has never changed (apart from the tabacco laws) I wouldn't worry too much! IMO if they closed the RLD that would make the town alot cleaner and safer (the place stinks of piss and I always get hassled by the non-Dutch street dealers).

 

[ChaosCatalunya]

My, won't the street dealers be happy.... and I really thought there were less there, constantly harrasing you, than before, maybe somebody misses them ?

 

[DogBoy]

Part of their problem is idiots who oversmoke and then take up hospital time while they scare themselves on the come down. I'm sure the decent people will simply make a few dutch friends and go smoke privately. Might not be such a bad thing for them to shake things up a bit. Loosen a bit of the chaff so to speak.

 

[blackone]

Well at least if this happens you won't hear stories about coffee-shops being so tourist-greedy that they won't even serve dutch customers...

 

[BENJI]

Interesting im planning my first trip there for next year hope all is the same when i finally arrive for my long overdue holiday...

 

[love?]

My theory is that there's less tourism right now and especially those from the U.S. and Britain are spending much less so better introduce a bill like this and get lots of free press and people to come "while they still can".