AMSTERDAM — A Dutch court yesterday upheld a new law barring foreigners from buying marijuana in coffee shops — potentially ending decades of “pot tourism” to Amsterdam and other Dutch cities.
Coffee-shop owners had challenged the plan, which was launched after southern cities complained of a rise in drug-related crimes.
Coffee shops in the south must stop selling pot to foreigners by next Tuesday but may be allowed to introduce a “weed pass” for Dutch citizens. Other cities, including Amsterdam, must comply by next year.
The Netherlands is moving toward tighter control of its renowned liberal marijuana policy even as the United States and other nations debate whether to legalize “soft” drugs.
Lawyers for the Netherlands’ more than 600 cannabis cafes argued that forbidding only foreigners from buying pot was illegal under national anti-discrimination laws.
And they vowed to appeal.
In Amsterdam’s infamous red-light district, Michael Veling, 56, owner of the 420 Cafe, which offers an extensive menu of legal marijuana, and chairman of the Dutch Union of Cannabis Retailers, said coffee-shop owners in the city of Masstricht were preparing to disobey “this ridiculous law” and were “ready to be arrested.”
Coffee-shop owners had challenged the plan, which was launched after southern cities complained of a rise in drug-related crimes.
Coffee shops in the south must stop selling pot to foreigners by next Tuesday but may be allowed to introduce a “weed pass” for Dutch citizens. Other cities, including Amsterdam, must comply by next year.
The Netherlands is moving toward tighter control of its renowned liberal marijuana policy even as the United States and other nations debate whether to legalize “soft” drugs.
Lawyers for the Netherlands’ more than 600 cannabis cafes argued that forbidding only foreigners from buying pot was illegal under national anti-discrimination laws.
And they vowed to appeal.
In Amsterdam’s infamous red-light district, Michael Veling, 56, owner of the 420 Cafe, which offers an extensive menu of legal marijuana, and chairman of the Dutch Union of Cannabis Retailers, said coffee-shop owners in the city of Masstricht were preparing to disobey “this ridiculous law” and were “ready to be arrested.”