Dutch cannabis cafés to start tourist ban

New legislation to ban non-Dutch residents from cannabis-selling coffee shops in southern Netherlands should be enforced no later than May 1 next year, the Dutch Justice Ministry said yesterday.

“The law will be amended on January 1, but there will be a kind of grace period until May 1,” said ministry spokesman Charlotte Menten.

The centre-right government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte has since September 2010 been weighing a “cannabis card”, reserved for residents only and obligatory when visiting one of the country’s 670 licensed coffee shops.

The move, which coffee shop owners say would harm an industry that has been a drawcard for travellers for years, was taken to protect locals against the nuisance of drug tourism and criminality, authorities said.

Ms Menten said the extended grace period was to give coffee shops in the southern Zeeland, Limburg and Brabant North provinces, which borders Belgium and Germany, time to set up a “new administrative system”.

“But if in some places they want to apply it before, they can,” she said, adding that the rest of the country will follow suit in 2013. Dutch coffee shops will now become closed clubs allowed up to 2,000 members of residents – including foreigners – living in the Netherlands and aged over 18.

Dutch residents have long complained about the impact of drug tourism including pollution, traffic jams, noise at night and a proliferation of drug dealers on the streets.

The Dutch government also plans to introduce a policy requiring coffee shops to be at least 350 metres away from schools, to keep drug consumption away from children.

Though technically illegal, the Netherlands decriminalised the possession of less than five grammes of cannabis in 1976 under a so-called “tolerance” policy.

Factbox

What is cannabis?
Cannabis sativa and cannabis indica are members of the nettle family that have grown wild throughout the world for centuries.

Street cannabis can come in a wide variety of strengths, so it is often not possible to judge exactly what is being used in any one particular session.

How is it used?
Most commonly, the resin or the dried leaves are mixed with tobacco and smoked as a “spliff” or “joint”. The smoke is inhaled strongly and held in the lungs for a number of seconds.

More than half of its psychologically active chemical ingredients are absorbed into the blood when smoked.

There are about 400 chemical compounds in an average cannabis plant.

The four main compounds are called delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta-9-THC), cannabidiol, delta-8-tetrahy­drocannabinol and canna­binol.

When cannabis is smoked, its compounds rapidly enter the bloodstream and are transported directly to the brain and other parts of the body. The feeling of being “stoned”or “high” is caused mainly by the delta-9-THC binding to cannabinoid receptors in the brain.

What are its effects?
Pleasant: A “high” – a sense of relaxation, happiness, sleepiness, colours appear more intense, music sounds better.

Unpleasant: Around one in 10 cannabis users have unpleasant experiences, including confusion, hallucinations, anxiety and paranoia.

There have also been suggestions that cannabis may interfere with a person’s capacity to concentrate, organise information and use information.

Work: It seems to have a similar effect on people at work. There is no evidence that cannabis causes specific health hazards. But users are more likely to leave work without permission, spend work time on personal matters or simply daydream. Cannabis users themselves report that drug use has interfered with their work and social life.

Driving: In New Zealand, researchers found that those who smoked regularly, and had smoked before driving, were more likely to be injured in a car crash.

There is growing evidence that people with serious mental illness, including depression and psychosis, are more likely to use cannabis or have used it for long periods of time in the past. Regular use of the drug has appeared to double the risk of developing a psychotic episode or long-term schizophrenia.

(Source: Royal College of Psychiatrists)