Friday, April 27, 2012

Dutch court upholds ban on foreign tourists buying pot

AMSTERDAM — A Dutch court on Friday upheld a new law that will prevent foreign visitors from buying marijuana in coffee shops across the Netherlands, potentially ending the decades of “pot tourism” for which this city and others became universally known.

A group of coffee shops had challenged the government plan, launched after southern cities in the Netherlands complained of increased levels of drug-related crime. The decision means that coffee shops in the south must stop selling cannabis to foreign tourists by May 1, while Dutch and foreign residents will be eligible for a “weed pass” that allows them to purchase it legally. The plan is to be rolled out to other Dutch cities, including the popular tourist center of Amsterdam, by next year.
Read the rest here.

That's OK. California will happily take the tourism.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Having lived in Colorado, I can attest to the fact that there are more pot dispensaries in downtown Denver than there are Starbucks. Some of the dispensaries are huge joints (pun intended) with barrels of various types, as if you were shopping for bulk tea leaves. Rocky Mountain high, indeed.