Residents-only rule for coffeeshops proposed in Amsterdam

Increasing numbers of councillors believe that a vote could be a close one, with a new drive to change the type of tourist who chooses to visit
Dutch News (Netherlands)
Friday, September 25, 2020

coffeeshop menuAmsterdam city council is gearing up for a new discussion on banning non-residents from its coffeeshops next month, after two new proposals were submitted. Although a national law says only Dutch residents can buy cannabis from the shops, Amsterdam has never enforced the ruling. When Dutch drug laws were tightened in 2013, there were concerns that the residents-only rule would drive dealing onto the street and create more nuisance, the late Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan said at the time. But now thanks to a citizen’s petition and new set of proposals from the opposition VVD party, a foreign visitor ban is back on the table and up for debate again.