Dutch town Roosendaal plans to close Cannibis[sic] Cafes

[Dragonfan]

News.com.au

from correspondents in The Hague

October 24, 2008 09:11am

Two Dutch towns are planning to close their cannabis smoking coffee shops after admitting that an influx of up to 25,000 French and Belgian "drug tourists" each week had become too much.

Local authorities in southwestern Roosendaal and Bergen-op-Doom announced they could no longer cope with the "drug tourists" whose presence they blamed for traffic congestion, crime and unlicenced dealing.

"Soft drug tourism is the motor of criminality linked to (harder) drugs," they said in a joint statement. "It has an overwhelming negative effect on public order."

All eight coffee shops in the two towns will shut, with closures beginning in February 2009.

"The mayor of Roosendaal thinks we could close them all within two years," town hall spokeswoman Marjolein Koppens said.

Until then, all local coffee shops will be forced to limit the sale of cannabis to two grams per customer per day instead of the current five grams.

Liberal drugs laws in the Netherlands allow people to carry five grams of marijuana on their person without being prosecuted.

Another border town, Terneuzen, announced yesterday it would toughen its local by-laws on the sale of cannabis from May next year. Opening hours would be restricted and the amount each customer could buy would also be reduced.

[Major Overgrow]

I wonder how much in bribes the officials took from the US DEA or related orgs to push this crap. That's how they usually work to undermine presonal freedoms...

[Mernahuana]

hopefully other cities will see the value of 25,000 people visiting their community to peaceful inhale cannabis. i know the city of toronto could really use those additional 25,000 people every weekend. our three cafes wouldn't be able to handle the business. weedenders leave dollars in coffers.

 

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