Message sent to Dutch Tourist Board

to: nbtc4you@holland.com

I have visited The Netherlands many times and always enjoyed the fact that I could go into a Coffeeshop and enjoy a quick smoke of cannabis (without tobacco) in peace - now for "foreigners" the only alternative will be to drink in a bar, which will mean more drunken foreigners and less safety - maybe I won't be coming again - I don't come only for the cannabis, by the way, there is plenty in the UK too.

When I first visited Amsterdam in 1975, there were very few coffeeshops. I was offered cannabis and hard drugs like cocaine and heroin on the street - lost my money twice - right then I thought never again would I visit that city. Then I found a coffeeshop and was able to buy and smoke some cannabis in safety and peace.

It is a shame that the Dutch Government have taken this step - and act of discrimination for sure, even if the courts say it is not due to the fact that cannabis is still illegal to possess and supply there.

Now Dutch cities will become like many other cities: beautiful buildings and sites, great multi-cultural people, but streets with drug dealers and runners on every corner, probably a worsening hard drug problem and all that goes with it.

Alun Buffry, UK

I went to Netherlands in 1975, before there were many coffeeshops

I went to Netherlands in 1975, before there were many coffeeshops, I did not go for "drugs". But i was offered cannabis and hard drugs on the streets - so I bought some cannabis which turned out to be house brick.

Then I found a coffeeshop, a safe and friendly environment where I could buy good quality, be advised on strength, and smoke in safety.

Since then I have been to Holland several times - not specifically for drugs- - but often visited relaxing and safe coffeeshops where no hard drugs are allowed.

If this ban comes into effect, I guess I and others will be the targets of street drug dealers again, dealers that often may offer hard drugs too.

So Dutch streets will see more drug dealers - Dutch economy will see less income - drugs will be associated with crime again.

Of course those that go to Netherlands just for cannabis, may not go again, so there will be less tourists, less trade.

It seems to me that this proposed ban is just a jobs-creation scheme for street dealers.

Netherlands judge to rule on cafe cannabis ban

BBC News, April 27 2012

A judge in the Netherlands is due to decide whether foreign tourists should be banned from entering cannabis cafes.

While soft drugs are tolerated, there is growing concern at tourists visiting just for drugs, and foreign dealers selling illegally at home.
The ban is due to start in three southern provinces next month, with a nationwide one by the end of the year.
A group of cafe owners are arguing at The Hague district court that the ban is discriminatory against foreigners.
If the measure is approved Dutch residents will still be allowed into the cafes, as long as they have valid identification, or possibly hold a new "weed pass" which is also being debated.
Michael Veling, a spokesman for the Dutch Cannabis Retailers Association, is among those challenging the plan.
"It is going to cost me 90% of my turnover," he told the BBC World Service. "That is a very good reason for anyone to oppose any plan. Second it puts our customers in a very difficult spot, because why do you have to register to buy a substance that is still illegal?"
There are about 700 coffee shops, as they are called, in the Netherlands. The cultivation and sale of soft drugs through them is decriminalised, although not legal; police generally tolerate possession of up to five grams of cannabis.
Tougher approachThe BBC's Anna Holligan in The Hague says the nationwide ban is being strongly opposed by the Mayor of Amsterdam because around a third of the city's tourists visit to smoke cannabis in the cafes.
If the coffee shop owners lose their case they say they will take it to the European Court of Human Rights, on the grounds that the Dutch should not be allowed to discriminate against people on the basis of where they live.
The moves are part of a tougher approach to drugs introduced by the coalition Conservative-led government elected 18 months ago.
In October strong cannabis was reclassified as a hard drug, amid concerns that it has a psychotic effect on some users.
The move forced cannabis coffee shops to remove the more popular stronger varieties from their shelves.
In November the city of Maastricht brought in a coffee shop ban for foreign tourists from all countries, except Belgium and Germany, from where the majority of foreign customers come.

Dutch Coffeeshop weedpass - is it justifiable?

Reports (1, 2, 3, 4) coming from The Netherlands over the last few months suggest that some Dutch politicians wish to restrict the entry into Coffeeshops (and tolerated purchase of cannabis).

The concept, which would effectively ban everyone except those with Dutch residency from entering a Coffeeshop seems to be based upon the idea that the Coffeeshops were originally tolerated in order to control cannabis in The Netherlands for the sake of the Dutch people.

Apart from the question of legality under European Law and Human Rights, that state that the treatment of all individuals must be equal and not based upon "property" (residence being property) one is forced to ask what sense there would be in such a move.

Of course, forcing the massive number of people that visit The Netherlands to be able to purchase and enjoy cannabis in comfort and safety, away from the world of crime and hard drugs would benefit only one section of society there - the criminals that would find a massive increase in potential customers on the streets of Dutch cities.

In reality any Dutch resident would be able to buy a "Weed Pass", enter a Coffeeshop and purchase cnanabis, that coule then be contaminated to boost profits when it is sold to "foreigners" at inflated prices on the streets - and of course those profits would be beyond the reach of the taxman.

Our Governments are supposed to act in the best interests of the people - yet how would such a ban help anyone except criminals?

Many Dutch people say that this is an on-going issue and a bluff!

The question remains, what sort of misguided and bigotted thinking could be behind the idea and why.