Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema also wants to move forward with plans to close the city’s cannabis cafes to tourists, arguing the move is the only option to control the local soft drugs market.
By
As surprising as it sounds, Amsterdam’s cannabis tourism has been famous for decades even though cultivation is banned in The Netherlands. Coffee shops are forced to illegally buy a product that they then sell legally without any problems.
Now, the government is seeking to eliminate the illicit cannabis market through a regulated marijuana production program, due to start in 2023, to supply all coffee shops in 10 local municipalities. However, coffee shop owners are resisting the measure.
RELATED: You’ll Never Guess Which Iconic City Wants To Ban Cannabis Tourism
In addition, Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema wants to move forward with plans to close the city’s cannabis cafes, or coffee shops, to tourists, arguing the move is the only option to control the local soft drugs market, reported dutchnews.nl.
Halsema told city councilors on Monday afternoon that there is a worrying interdependence between the soft and hard drug trade and that “money from the lucrative cannabis trade easily finds its way into hard drugs.”
The mayor launched a new campaign against street dealing, including warning signs, camera surveillance and the use of hosts to warn tourists about the risks in the city.
RELATED: Majority Of Europeans Support Legal Weed, But Which Country Will Do Something About It?
The move to keep tourists out of coffee shops is not supported by two of the biggest parties on the city council, D66, and GroenLinks.
This article originally appeared on Benzinga and has been reposted with permission.
