The mayor of Amsterdam plans to push ahead with banning tourist cannabis cafes
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As surprising as it sounds, Amsterdam’s cannabis tourism has been famous for decades, despite the fact that cultivation is banned in the Netherlands. Coffeeshops are being forced to illegally buy a product that they can then easily sell legally.
Now the government is trying to eliminate the illicit cannabis market through a regulated marijuana production program scheduled to begin in 2023 to supply all coffee shops in 10 local communities. However, the café owners are opposed to the measure.
Photo by Steven Lasry via Unsplash
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In addition, Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema wants to push ahead with plans to close the city’s cannabis cafes, or coffee shops, to tourists, arguing that this is the only way to control the local soft drugs market, dutchnews.nl reported .
Halsema told councilors Monday afternoon that there is a worrying correlation between the soft and hard drug trade and that “money from the lucrative cannabis trade is easily finding its way into hard drugs.”
The mayor launched a new anti-street trading campaign, including warning signs, camera surveillance and the use of hosts to warn tourists of the risks in the city.
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The move to keep tourists away from cafes is not supported by two of the city council’s largest parties, D66 and GroenLinks.
This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been republished with permission.
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