No More Amsterdam!

I can't find any other evidence* to support this, but according to the latest bulletin from the International Association for Cannabis as Medicine (IACM),

"From January 2006 on, only citizens of the Netherlands will have access to coffee shops. It is intended to prohibit the sale of cannabis in coffee shops to foreigners."

In addition, the Dutch government is considering the scheduling of cannabis as a hard drug if an ongoing investigation comes to the conclusion that the increase in THC concentration of cannabis during the past years is responsible for the increasing number of personality disorders in cannabis users.


Further Research at November 16th 2005

Further research has yielded this post on a forum, which concludes:

The Dutch Justice Ministry has told (METRO) "this is a pilot scheme, limiting sales only to Dutch natives, will begin in Maastricht in January and if successful could be spread throughout the country. They are using Maastricht first because of concerns about Belgians and Germans crossing the nearby border to buy cannabis, a 'drugs tourism' they are under pressure to stop. The scheme would be operated by asking for buyers' passports or proof of Dutch citizenship, or having people register in advance for permission to buy cannabis."

This seems to be the full position as far as I can find. (If it is so, then the IACM article is misleading. I've written to them about it, and I'll post on their response.)

The whole thing sounds like the story that's been around a couple of years, but this is now.


Later. The IACM replied to say that the Der Standard article does not mention Maastricht. I'm trying to verify the item stating that it's initially a pilot study in Maastricht only, but so far without success.

The IACM sent me the Der Standard text. In looking round various forums on this question I've come across the response that a ban on foreigners couldn't be enforced because it's discrimination. However the text covers that point:

"Touristen sollen keine Joints mehr erhalten. Einer etwaigen Klage vor dem Europäischen Gerichtshof wegen Diskriminierung sieht Paul van Voorst vom Justizministerium gelassen entgegen. Man könne nichts einklagen, was gesetzlich verboten sei."

This is the Babel Fish translation, verbatim:

"To any complaint before the European Court of Justice because of discrimination Paul van Voorst of the Ministry of Justice expects calmly. One cannot in-complain anything, what is legally forbidden."

Get the gist?


* At November 24th, there seems to be no other evidence. The report appears to be restricted to Der Standard. The Dutch Ministry of Justice have no information or press releases about it.


The actual position in early 2006:

Just to update that and round it off, here's a quote from an excellent Wikipedia article about Dutch drug policy:

"On 27 November 2003 [?], the Dutch Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner announced that his government was considering rules under which coffeeshops would only be allowed to sell soft drugs to Dutch residents in order to satisfy both European neighbors' concerns about the influx of drugs from the Netherlands, as well as those of Netherlands border town residents unhappy with the influx of "drug tourists" from elsewhere in Europe. As of 2006 nothing has come of this proposal and Dutch coffeehouses still enjoy robust foreign patronage."