Maastricht cannabis cafes to ban all but Dutch, Belgians, Germans

Arnold

Arnold

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Cannabis cafes in Maastricht are to ban all but Dutch, German and Belgian nationals from their premises as part of a plan to reduce the nuisance caused by marijuana smokers, the AD reports on Thursday.

Marc Josemans, of the local cannabis cafe owners association, told the paper the ban will reduce the number of marijuana tourists coming to the border town by some 500,000 a year - or 20% of the total. Some 70% of the city's coffee shop customers come from abroad.

Visitors from Germany and Belgium will still be allowed in the cafes because the two countries border the Netherlands, the AD says.

City council

The paper says Maastricht city council 'takes note of the plan but does not support it'. And, it points out, the plan can be considered discriminatory because not all foreigners are being banned.

The council has been trying to reduce drugs tourism for several years.

The national government already has plans to stop everyone who is not an official resident of the Netherlands from buying marijuana in coffee shops by turning them all into members' only clubs.

The European court of justice has said this is technically possible under EU law.
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http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2011/08/maastricht_cannabis_cafes_to_c.php
 
is holland the only country in the world that does not value the income produced by tourists? and wasnt the toursist overflow CAUSED by german and belgium tourists in the first place? its not like its mainly brits italian, and french over there
 
Way to go brits, lol!
But yea Dutch, Belgians, Germans are the biggest buyers of weed i bet. Just cross the border with a car and get cuppela kilos, and head back(not from coffeeshops obviously). Thats what my friends there used to do atleast Xo
 
Thanks for the French...

In the south of France, where my parents have a house, half of the tourists are Dutch. This will make things worse for them...

Now I understand that the French government always pressured them to ban the weed. So I kind of understand them. So all in all, the French have to move their asses to make their law (the most repressive of Europe) less repressive.

The absurdity is that, with the most repressive law of all Europe, percentage wise, the French smoke much more than their all their neighbours...
 
I think the reasoning behind this is that Maastricht is close to the Belgian and German border, thus most of the Belgians and Germans living close to there just go to get a few grams at a time and leave. France on the other hand is farther away, so the French going to Maastricht aren't some stoners going to buy a few grams but rather it's the French dealers who go over there to buy larger amounts of weed (and perhaps other drugs too) at once. And I think they are the ones that were said to be causing the public disturbance as well.

Anyway, since I'm Belgian this is good news I guess.
 
how are they gonna know where u are from?, you could just speak in dutch to them! if your a resident does that mean you have to bring your bsn number every time? i dont see how this system will work
 
Are the Dutch doing so well that they're now turning down chunks of business and tourism? If marijuana tourism is becoming such a problem I guess business must be a-boomin'.
 
I'm guessing they'll ask for ID when you buy. Question is; will they have a problem with selling to a person who has a German ID, but who is obviously British or even American born? Obviously people move and even change citizenship status, or even hold dual citizenship. Is this law unintentionally (or intentianally) making it so that the shops can only sell to people born in Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands?
 
In other news, Maastricht tourism and city revenue down 93%. Mission successful.

Does anyone know how common toking is in Germany? I'm guessing pretty common but idk for sure. It might hinder their famous punctuality. I want to visit soon.
 
When I was in Munich it was extremely common. I was offered weed by employees at the hostel where I was staying. After sunset, the whole city reeked of ganja, but I'm not sure what it is like these days.

If I was to go back to Europe, I wouldn't even bother with Holland anymore (except maybe Rotterdam for just a day or two). If I can't get weed or shrooms there any easier than the rest of Europe, then why go back? Once you've seen the tulips, windmills, dikes, Van Gogh Museum and Ann Frank house what's the point? I'm not going back to spend a bunch more of my tourist dollars on hotels and restaurants and windmill tours if I can't do it while getting high as a kite. These new dutch drug laws are hurting other industries that rely on tourism just as much as the weed/ psychedelic industry, perhaps more.
 
Transcendence said:
In other news, Maastricht tourism and city revenue down 93%. Mission successful.

Does anyone know how common toking is in Germany? I'm guessing pretty common but idk for sure. It might hinder their famous punctuality. I want to visit soon.
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It's very common, up north like here in Berlin or in Hamburg you'll find a lot of people smoking openly on the street. The drug laws are very relaxed when it comes to MJ, you won't have to face any consequences if caught with small amounts. It's 6g in Berlin if they haven't changed it recently, but the amount varies between states, other regions take quite a different approach.

Btw, many dutch coffee shops get their supply from German growers, the indoor growing scene is huge.

Word of warning: steer clear of Bavaria if you're planning to have a druggy trip, the police there will kick your ass for the tiniest of crumbs. Good beer though.
 
Oh yeah. The Germans have NEVER caused any disruption in the Netherlands... I've fucking read the Diary of Anne Frank.
 
loulou reed said:
Now I understand that the French government always pressured them to ban the weed. So I kind of understand them. So all in all, the French have to move their asses to make their law (the most repressive of Europe) less repressive.
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It is such bs that the French government tries to blame the Dutch for their "drug problem"; like banning or making the cafes allot more resrictive is going to make any inpact at all.
 
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