Dutch introduce "grasspass" to fight drugs tourism

Arnold

Arnold

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AMSTERDAM — Eight Dutch cities near the German and Belgian borders will introduce a membership card for soft drugs users in an attempt to fight drugs tourism, they said on Tuesday.

"Coffee shops have to refocus on their original policy: small-scale sale of grass for the own population," said a spokesman for the southern city of Maastricht, which is one of the cities participating in the project.

Although such drugs are officially banned in the Netherlands, coffee shops sell small quantities of marijuana, making them popular venues for tourists and locals alike.

The card, dubbed the "grasspass", allows people to buy a maximum amount of three grams of soft drugs. People will have to register for the pass and the cities hope that drug daytrippers will be discouraged by the extra bureaucracy.

The Dutch cities of Bergen op Zoom and Roosendaal, located near the Belgian border, have already said they will close all their shops within two years to combat drug tourism and crime.

Gerd Leers, mayor of Maastricht, which earlier angered Belgian authorities by proposing to move its city center coffee shops to the edge of the city, said last year about 60 percent of the people who visit the city's coffee shops each year were French or Belgian.

Coffee shop owners support the grasspass initiative, but some are cautious. "We agree with being tough on crime and underground movement, but we will never participate in discriminating foreigners," said Marc Josemans, chairman of the association for official coffee shops in Maastricht.
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http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/12/090512dutch-grass-pass/
 
Its ridiculous to claim there is a correlation between tourists using small amounts of marijuana and the crime rate.

I think if they make it too hard for tourists to get drugs their tourism industry will sink like the titanic.
 
drug_mentor said:
Its ridiculous to claim there is a correlation between tourists using small amounts of marijuana and the crime rate.

I think if they make it too hard for tourists to get drugs their tourism industry will sink like the titanic.
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Not only that, but this will also push the industry further into the black market -where the real consequences of drug use lie.

What's gonna stop the locals from getting this pass and then selling weed to the tourists themselves?
 
nothing. Nothing will stop tourists from getting the pass either, but it will slow them down..
 
Thats shitty.. the limit used to be either 5 or 8 grams I think.. either way you could buy 3 grams from each shop as you go..

These people should be greatful, drug tourism probobly keeps their little shitty towns going.. all the hotels, resturants, services, hookers, they keep all their locals employed..
 
You used to be able to buy peyote, shrooms, and other shit while you were in Amsterdam. I think they've shut all that off now, too.

Just unbelievable how dumb the Dutch government is playing this. They're going to end up wrecking their tourism trade which is a HUGE part of their economy, and they'll end up propagating more crime because they force the drugs underground.

Seriously, I expect to see Portugal become the new drug mecca for vacationing tourists. I believe most all drugs there are decriminalized in small amounts and they're on the way to legalizing quite a few.
 
surley what there proposing is just gonna increase the amout of cannabis sold on the streets to tourists ,,, noone wants thats,, sketchy middle eastern dudes(not being rasist just ive never seen anyone on the streets of holland selling drugs that isnt of that ethnicity) selling possibly harmful drugs to guests in there country , if youve ever been to 'dam you'll know what im on about.
 
Who wants to bet the European Union but them up to this. I doubt a Dutch politician came up with such an ignorant policy. "Yeah, lets put restrictions on tourism and encourage the formation of black markets."
 
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