The Amsterdam Council will vote on banning tourists from the city’s cannabis coffee shops. The ‘cannabis tourists’ that are commonplace in Amsterdam may find that very soon these shops will not function in this way for non-residents.
According to reports, the mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, has called for a temporary ban on non-residents in coffee shops. She has proposed enforcing a residents-only rule known locally as the i-criterium. The plan was first announced in 2020 and has resurfaced over two years later.
Councillors in the city will vote on Wednesday. This official vote will determine if the 100+ cannabis coffee shops will remain open to tourists in the future.
What we know:
Last week a debate was held so that coffee shop owners, representatives, and researchers could voice their opinions. Many expressed their opposition to the plan.
Alongside highlighting that the majority opposed the proposition at the recent debate, the report shed light on why the mayor wants to bring the coffee shops’ accessibility to an end. The idea, according to the prosecutor, is that the growth of the soft drug industry needs to be diminished. She also firmly believes that it will tackle unruly tourist behavior and hard-drug criminality.
Others disagree, arguing that the decision will eventually increase the number of street-dealers, according to the Guardian report. Others have highlighted that according to reports, under 50% of tourists visit Amsterdam for cannabis-related reasons and 24% would still come even if the ban proceeds.
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