Amsterdam - Close to Cannabis Tourism

Amsterdam will discuss banning foreign tourists from entering cafes to legally purchase marijuana. The move was proposed by the mayor of the city, Femke Halsema, together with the police and the prosecutor's office, to limit cannabis tourism in the Dutch capital.

Only residents of the Netherlands with a passport would be allowed to enter 166 coffee shops in Amsterdam, in line with the rest of the country.

"We have seen many groups of young people who come to Amsterdam just to go to 'coffeeshops'," Mayor Halsema said in a letter to city councilors.

Nearly a third of Dutch coffee shops are located in Amsterdam, which according to Halsema is a "great incentive for foreign tourists" who often "create discomfort for residents. ". The proposal is one of the many solutions favored by Halsema, elected in 2018, to reduce overcrowding in the city's red light district.

"Soft" drugs such as hashish and marijuana are legal to buy in Dutch coffee shops for personal consumption and have remained open for service since takeout during coronavirus blockade.

But recent studies have shown that drug tourism, especially from the UK, has increased significantly. Joachim Helms is the spokesperson for the Association of Cannabis Resellers in Amsterdam.

Says efforts to keep tourists out of bars push drug trafficking into the streets. "Ban tourists from bars now will have a serious negative side effect. That is, people who still want to smoke cannabis - and that's a lot of people - will go and buy it on the streets from street traders. "

In February, the Mayor of Amsterdam released a report showing that more than a third of foreign tourists would be less likely to visit Amsterdam again if they couldn't buy cannabis in the bar.

The study by the Dutch Bureau for Research, Information and Statistics found that up to 44% of British tourists, 50% of German visitors and the 45% of French tourists would no longer visit Amsterdam if they couldn't enter the bars.

Research has also suggested that Amsterdam could halve the number of coffee shops from 166 to just 73 by 2025 to meet local demand.

"We would like tourists interested in the richness and beauty of cultural institutions to come here, and not tourists who come here only to stroll drunk and drugged", he said. Halsema on Dutch television NOS.

The city parliament has yet to approve the new plans.