Municipal officials in the Netherlands are taking another crack at stopping drug tourists flooding into their country to take advantage of the country's soft drugs policy.


The Dutch association for municipalities, VNG, announced Tuesday, Oct. 28 that it will host a soft drugs summit in the third week of November in Maastricht. Participants will seek ways to discourage tourists who visit the Netherlands to take advantage of its liberal drug laws. By extension, the summit also seeks to reduce drug-related crime.

The summit comes in the wake of last week's decision by the south- western Dutch towns of Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom to gradually close their local "coffee shops" in an attempt to reduce drug-related crimes.

All Dutch cities and towns close to the German or Belgian borders are invited to the summit. After the summit, the VNG will present the cities' common position to the government.

The goal, according to VNG, is to get the government to negotiate an international soft drugs policy with Belgium and Germany.

The Netherlands effectively decriminalized soft drugs a few decades ago when it introduced a policy of "non-enforcement." Although possession and cultivation of cannabis remains technically illegal in Holland, law enforcement has systematically turned a blind eye, and the courts usually rule in favor of individual defendants.

The sale and use of so-called soft drugs, such as marijuana, is legal in designated stores, usually referred to as "coffee shops."

Maastricht suffering most from drug-related crime

Maastricht mayor Gerd Leers calls the current Dutch drugs policy "hypocritical." He says it enables drug-related crime and also increases the sale and distribution of hard drugs, such as heroin.


Maastricht is one of the Dutch cities suffering most from drug- related crime. The city is visited by more than 1.5 million drugs tourists per year and has 16 "coffee shops," 10 more than in Dutch cities of comparable size not located close to the border.

Police estimate Maastricht also has more than 100 "soft drugs supermarkets," illegal stores where one can purchase soft drugs in larger quantities than the 5 grams per person allowed under Dutch law.

Leers says police officers in his city deal with triple the amount of crime as their colleagues in the metropolitan area of The Hague.

Most of the crime in Maastricht is drug-related, and the number of drug-related murders each year is increasing, according to police officials.

German cross-border smokers favor Enschede

The town of Enschede has been particularly problematic for local authorities, because of its immediate proximity to the German border. Thousands of drug tourists, mainly from Germany, pour across the border each year for a taste of legal marijuana.

The Netherlands have considered many ways in the past to deter drug tourism, such as restricting the sale of soft drugs to Dutch nationals by demanding coffee shops ask to see passports while political pressure has led to a decline in the number of coffee shops.

The last official figures showed that the Netherlands had 740 coffee shops in 2004 compared to 1,180 in 1997. But it is unclear whether the reduction in the number of coffee shops has actually resulted in a decrease in drug consumption and drug tourism.

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im going on 2nd december to the dam hope this dont affect me in any way damn politicians its pumping loads into the dutch economy

They better be easy before they lose a huge source of revenue. I highly doubt it's the tourist committing crimes, but the tourists being targets for crime.

I don't know. I have a long-time friend in Eindhoven, also near the border. I'll have to ask her. But from all she's spoken of in these last eight or nine years has been the violence spurred by gross overpopulation and conflicts between fundamentalists on both sides of the fence (those who want to keep the Netherlands closer to pure Dutch and most often Muslims who want an environment more suited to their liking).

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hey, i'll be there 4 december with some friends, staying until the 9th.

I believe that to be the case. I have been in A-dam many many times and it is always the "tourists" who get over medicated and walk around in a daze or a general disheveled loudness. Easy targets both.....

out.

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You haven't countered nothing, because the points you made are not valid, you are basing your counter on information you don't understand, regardless the accuracy of the information, because it does not state what you are saying.. (Brazko)

I GO OVER EVERY FEW WEEKS,, AND IL BE THER ON D 2ND DEC,,A LOT OF HOOKERS GONE NOW,SO IS D COFFIE SHOPS NEXT HOPE NOT ,,,GET RID OF D WHOES BUT KEEP D COFFIE SHOPS. maybe if d got rid of all d crack headz off d street conners it would be an even nicer place for a city break,,dun of that carry on in Eindhoven nice place ,,PINK YUM YUM

Well damn, if the Netherlands recrimilaizes it that ends the chances of it becoming legal in the United States in my life time.

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Đσ ωнατ τнough ωίll aиđ наям иоиє.

Weed has always been illegal on the books in Holland, they just don't enforce it much. They are "cracking" down on the seedier areas me thinks. If you don't act the fool ( a common sight unfortunately), you won't have any troubles....






out.

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You haven't countered nothing, because the points you made are not valid, you are basing your counter on information you don't understand, regardless the accuracy of the information, because it does not state what you are saying.. (Brazko)

i know its really lame, magic mushrooms are entierly illegal there now, i got them like one of the last legal days at the cannabis cup, but some areas do need to be cleaned up i got offered coke and extacy a couple times oh and i also caught a viral form of pink eye there that lasts 2weeks with a cold and cough! yay fun now i cant go to work or teach karate for awhile...

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Taipan