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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Netherlands: Tourism suicide': Dutch to ban foreigners from cannabis coffee shops
Daily Mail Saturday 28 May 2011 Anti-drugs laws will see restrictions placed on who can use the shops, which allow patrons to buy and smoke drugs legally. The rules, called 'tourism suicide' by some, could put an end to many of the tens of thousands of visits made by Britons to Amsterdam every year. Under legislation spearheaded by far-right politicians, only Dutch residents will be able to enter the cannabis-selling premises. By the end of the year, would-be customers will have to sign up for a one-year membership, or 'dope pass', to the coffee shops. Each shop will be allowed a maximum of 1,500 members. Opposition MPs say the move could cost the country millions of pounds a year in lost revenue. They also fear Dutch residents, who are allowed to possess 5g of marijuana, could sell to tourists at massively inflated prices. But a statement from the Dutch health and justice ministries said: "We attract other types of tourists apart from drugs tourists. "This law will put an end to the nuisance and criminality associated with coffee shops and drugs trafficking." The country decriminalised 'soft' drugs in the Seventies, and has around 750 coffee shops. About 220 are in Amsterdam – mostly in the city's red light district, where prostitution is also legal. Coffee shops, the first one was called 'Mellow Yellow', were seen as a useful weapon in controlling the use of drugs. It allowed people to walk in off the street and order their favourite brand of marijuana rather than giving money to a potentially flourishing black market. By the 1980s, the shops were left alone by the authorities and had become an established part of Dutch life, famed throughout the world as a symbol of the country's tolerance. One - The Bulldog - even opened up in an old police headquarters in one of Amsterdam’s most-visited squares. They soon became big tourist attractions. Up to a million British tourists visit Amsterdam each year, many of them drawn by the appeal of the coffee shops. n recent years, British tourist numbers have been fueled by the number of stag parties in the city. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1392205/Dutch-ban-foreigners-cannabis-coffee-shops.html#ixzz1Nmvm62PS
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