Marijuana Blog

The new government of The Netherlands has snuffed out plans to ban foreigners from visiting Dutch coffee shops where they can purchase quasi-legal cannabis. That means the High Times 2012 Cannabis Cup is on!

 

The Independent reports today that: “The new government has scrapped plans for a national “weed pass” that would have been available only to residents, and would have effectively banned tourists from Amsterdam’s marijuana cafés. However, under a pact unveiled this week, cities can bar foreigners from weed shops if they choose. Amsterdam opposes a ban, saying it would hurt tourism.”

 

Pot is technically illegal in The Netherlands, but a policy of tolerance to personal possession and sale of small amounts of cannabis has made Amsterdam synonymous with weed tourism. According to research by UC Berkeley professor Robert J. MacCoun, the policy has succeeded in its goal of separating the “soft drug” market for marijuana and the “hard drug” market. Dutch teens have lower rates of marijuana use than American teens, and report less access to the drug.

 

An older, more conservative government had floated plans to ban pot tourists from The Netherlands with a locals-only ‘weed pass’, but new elections have now ended that idea. What’ll likely happen is small, conservative towns in the south of The Netherlands like Maastricht will ban foreigners in coffee shops, while Amsterdam won’t.

 

Source: http://blog.sfgate.com/