Dutch give drug tourists the red card

Keen to stub out an era of dope tourism, the Netherlands last Tuesday started restricting cannabis sales in the country’s south to residents only, despite opposition from pro-pot lobby groups.

Coffee shop owners say the ban on foreigners will cut into profits

Famous for decades for its laid-back attitude to marijuana, the Netherlands will now require so-called coffee shops in some regions to only sell to signed-up members who live in the country, not to foreign visitors.

The tougher rules, set to take effect nationwide from next year, effectively turn coffee shops into private clubs with no more than 2,000 members, who must be over 18 and legal residents of the country.

Starting last Tuesday in three provinces, coffee shops will have to turn away those without the so-called “cannabis cards”, which allow locals and foreigners living in the country to enter and light up.

Coffee shop owners say the ban on foreigners will cut into profits. But many local residents have welcomed the change, saying they have had enough of traffic jams, nocturnal disturbances and drug pushers catering to the millions of foreign visitors drawn by the relaxed cannabis laws.

The southern city of Maastricht, a popular destination for some 1.4 million “drug tourists” every year from Germany, France and Belgium, said last week it was ready to enforce the “weed-pass” legislation.

Some coffee shops have already signalled they intend to break the law.