Amsterdam's plan to ban tourists from coffeeshops back on the table
Amsterdam is again considering a ban on international tourists from cannabis-serving coffeeshops, according to Parool. After next month’s municipal elections, there could be majority support for such a ban in the city council.
Amsterdam has been trying to both get rid of the image of Europe’s cannabis capital and reduce the number of international tourists for years. In October last year, the PvdA proposed banning international tourists from buying cannabis at city center coffeeshops, following the example of the southern provinces. They introduced a special cannabis pass for locals, which they must show when they buy cannabis at coffeeshops, in 2012.
The PvdA’s plan did not get majority support, but that could change after the municipal elections on March 18. One of the major opponents was GroenLinks, which will merge with the PvdA after the election and could then follow the PvdA’s line on this point. Mayor Femke Halsema could also implement the measure herself, but has always stated that she’d prefer to do it with city council support.
The measure is not without downsides. Maastricht, where only Dutch citizens can buy weed or hashish, has seen an increase in street dealers, a crime reporter for De Limburger, told Parool. “This measure will lead to a lot of street dealing. These people stand around the corner from the coffeeshop. Enforcement of this was impossible in Limburg, with the current capacity of enforcement officers and the police.”
Dirk Korf, an emeritus professor of criminology who has studied coffeshops, street dealers, and the tourist ban for years, is also not a fan of the measure. He, too, thinks banning tourists from coffeeshops will lead to more drug dealers on the street. “It’s a game of supply and demand. You don’t have to just imagine annoying street dealers; a new parallel market will emerge. We’ve seen that in the south of the country.”
But according to Dingeman Coumou of the residents’ organization d’Oude Stadt, Amsterdam already deals with street dealers, and this measure will address a more pressing problem - overtourism. “Party tourists, in particular, will stay away, and we’d rather be rid of them,” he told Parool. “We hope a majority will emerge now and Halsema will have the courage to implement it."
