Amsterdam Coffeeshops to be closed for tourists
nzshadow
5,518 Posts
In Dutch:
http://www.at5.nl/artikelen/53155/coffeeshops-zitten-vast-aan-het-pasjessysteem
Translation:
Political parties SP (socialist), PvdA (labour), D66 (liberal) and the Greens filed a motion in the Lower House for 'exception Amsterdam' the freedom for this city's own approach to coffee shop legislation following the new Center-right governments sweeping changes.
The motion was rejected Tuesday.
All coffee shops will soon be closed clubs. (no date given yet) Only customers in possesion of a club card will be admitted to the coffee shop. Moreover, they must be of age and a resident of the Netherlands.
No tourist exceptions.
Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan fears the introduction of a pass system will lead to illegal street dealing.
Education Minister Marja van Bijsterveldt stated that the city must also comply with the obligation to keep coffee shops at least 350 meters away from schools.
Of the 223 coffee shops in Amsterdam a few dozen (close to schools) will close.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.
End of an era.
This new government is taking the piss.
Looks like i better get some club cards to accomodate visiting strutters...
http://www.at5.nl/artikelen/53155/coffeeshops-zitten-vast-aan-het-pasjessysteem
Translation:
Political parties SP (socialist), PvdA (labour), D66 (liberal) and the Greens filed a motion in the Lower House for 'exception Amsterdam' the freedom for this city's own approach to coffee shop legislation following the new Center-right governments sweeping changes.
The motion was rejected Tuesday.
All coffee shops will soon be closed clubs. (no date given yet) Only customers in possesion of a club card will be admitted to the coffee shop. Moreover, they must be of age and a resident of the Netherlands.
No tourist exceptions.
Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard van der Laan fears the introduction of a pass system will lead to illegal street dealing.
Education Minister Marja van Bijsterveldt stated that the city must also comply with the obligation to keep coffee shops at least 350 meters away from schools.
Of the 223 coffee shops in Amsterdam a few dozen (close to schools) will close.
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.
End of an era.
This new government is taking the piss.
Looks like i better get some club cards to accomodate visiting strutters...
Comments
will lead to more street dealings (ya think)
i've missed my chance damn
All you do is just sit outside a coffeeshop, wait for some tourist who wants to get high - offer to buy them the pot with your pass, slap a lil lil extra percentage on top, presto.
Homegrown drug dealers exist where they never did before.
Way to drive pot smokers back in to the streets into the arms of sleazebags when they used to be able to sit inside in a clean, friendly environment to smoke without bothering people on the street -
People with kids or whatever that dont want to have anything to do with weed heads are now going to be confronted with this shit on a daily basis. Turn back the clock 40 years why dont you.
I'd imagine the same thing applies there, only that the tourist trade probably doesn't represent as big a slice of the revenue for a coffeeshop in, say, Groningen as it does in Amsterdam, hence the "exceptional circumstances" argument.
Either way, this is a dick move. Imagine if the Irish government decided to ban Dublin boozers from selling Guinness to non-R.O.I. nationals, or indeed from allowing non-nationals onto their premises. This isn't too far removed from that.
when does this go into effect?
Our new coalition (which took 3 months to form and includes the party which was the biggest loser: CDA- the Christian Democrats, who succesfully governed three cabinet collapses) obviously does not care to attract weed smoking tourists anymore.
This move is the latest in a series of idiotic policy changes including ALL arts and charity funding being slashed resulting in the national orchestra closing, countless theaters, clubs and performance places going under and charities and development aid organisations shutting their doors.
I am a casualty of these decisions, i lost my gig consulting for Non-profits.
Even Oxfam has cut back and fired hundreds, Amnesty International the same.
the good news is that Geert Wilders is succesfully creating an atmosphere of race-based hatred, gay bashings and a them-vs-us society. Plus we are about to pony up 2.3 billion for the Irish bailout.
After 11 plus years of living in a country touted as an example of tolerance, progressive thought and creativity, i now see the pendulum swinging and the values this country once held proudly are dying.
What a fucking shame.
Dutch strutters will be able to shed more light on this, but yeah, the direction this country is heading is frightening,
right wing is gaining traction all over europe, unfortunately
restricted coffee shops are the least of the worries
Guess High Times would hafta move the cannibis cup to Cali.