Posted on 05/28/2011 9:08:28 AM PDT by GonzoII
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The Dutch government on Friday said it would start banning tourists from buying cannabis from "coffee shops" and impose restrictions on Dutch customers by the end of the year.
The Netherlands is well known for having one of Europe's most liberal soft drug policies that has made its cannabis shops a popular tourist attraction, particularly in Amsterdam.
Backed by the far-right party of anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders, the coalition government that came into power last year announced plans to curb drug tourism as part of a nationwide program to promote health and fight crime.
"In order to tackle the nuisance and criminality associated with coffee shops and drug trafficking, the open-door policy of coffee shops will end," the Dutch health and justice ministers wrote in a letter to the country's parliament on Friday.
Under the new rules, only Dutch residents will be able to sign up as members of cannabis shops.
Dutch customers will have to sign up for at least a year's membership and each shop would be expected to have only up to 1,500 members, a justice ministry spokesman said.
The policy will roll out in the southern provinces of Limburg, Noord Brabant and Zeeland by the end of the year and the rest of the country next year, the spokesman said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Yes, the facts.
Approximately 170 murders were committed in the Netherlands in 2010, a slight decrease from 2009.
http://www.denhaag.nl/de/to/Population-of-The-Hague-rising.htm
That works out to a murder rate of just over 1 per 100,000 population. Compare that to the US murder rate of 5 per 100,000
http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm
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Let's look at Amsterdam:
In Amsterdam the number of murders decreased from 32 in 2009 to 16 in 2010...
http://www.denhaag.nl/de/to/Population-of-The-Hague-rising.htm
With a population of about 730,000, that works out to a murder rate of about 2.2/100,000.
For comparison, San Jose has consistently been ranked among the safest cities over 500,000 in the US. According to city-data.com, its murder rate for 2009 was 2.6/100,000.
Must be very disappointing to the prohibitionists.
They've done more than that they're keeping the rest of world's potheads out and the crap they bring in their train. It will definitely have a positive effect.
Straw man.
Murder isn't the issue here.
From the piece:
"In order to tackle the nuisance and criminality associated with coffee shops and drug trafficking, the open-door policy of coffee shops will end," the Dutch health and justice ministers wrote in a letter to the country's parliament on Friday."
Not to mention the bad influence that foreign dope smokers from around the world bring to their country.
My mother and I were in Amsterdam in April, some years back, and a number of people remarked about how much more pleasant it was at that time of year than when the summer crowds arrived to lie about stoned.
Naturally, I haven’t run the cost-benefit analysis on this change in policy, but it stands to reason the Dutch government has.
You’re stating murder statistics. What crimes are concerning the Dutch to the point of changing the laws? Had it been murder that they were concerned about I think the article would have mentioned it.
That would be true if Denmark and Holland were the same countries.
We should have such problems.
Apparently the problems are serious enough when a liberal country like the Netherlands thinks it wise to start cracking down.
Go to Amsterdam anyway.....................Trust me on this.
I've been there enough times to know it's the sewer of western Europe; the place losers go to drop out of life. I thin it was on my third trip when I stopped and thought "What am I doing in this dump?". The whole place smells of mold. I'm sure there's a nice place somewhere in that city, but it's not withing walking distance of the train station. Since my roaming days are long behind me, I can't think of a reason to ever go back.
I like the idea that an owner of a restaurant hates a paying customer. I never heard that complaint in my life from the managers/owners of any of the restaurants I worked for.
As long as someone ordered something nobody cared if they ate it or not. The cost was still the same.
Yeah, until the stoners figure out this brilliant idea:
“Hey, let’s stand in front of the coffeeshops and like have someone go in and like buy the stuff from us!”
Then the Dutch tourist with a card will figure this brilliant idea out:
“Hey, I can like buy a gram for 5 euros and sell it to these guys for 7-10 euros! I do this a couple times a day and my gram is paid for!”
Nah, that would never happen. Black markets don’t get created when there is a demand for something...
Buzz kill.
No doubt this is designed to quell an insidious continental drug trade, and not to thwart the curious pond crosser.
How will this affect the seed market?
Many erstwhile growers here get prize seeds from Holland
>> How will this affect the seed market?
Are you talking about the lovely tulips by any chance? Many a Spring our house was adorned with tulips from Holland.
I stand corrected, that would be the bulb market, not the seed market.
Lol..don’t be obtuse Gene
I think Tulips are overrated anyhow
They dont come up half the time and boom a week out two and then lean over by their own weight and then leave an unsightly stalk
I prefer lilies for cluster and driveway borders
I think budmen can get seed from Canada still though
Maybe our Few libertinians can expound
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