AMSTERDAM - The Dutch Cabinet says it will push ahead with plans to force anyone wishing to purchase marijuana at the country's weed cafes to first obtain an official pass a move designed to curtail tourists from buying the drug.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte says he plans to begin rolling out the system in the country's south later this year, an area popular with French and German buyers, before moving on to Amsterdam's famed tourist cafes later in his term.
Justice Ministry spokesman Wim van der Weegen said Friday the supreme court must still rule on whether foreigners can be blocked entirely.
Regardless, he said the plan will prevent cafes from issuing more than 1,500 permits in all, forcing shop owners to choose between tourists and their regular customers.
see their system undermined or kinapped by foreigners.Understandable.
Candadai Tirumalai
http://blogs.forbes.com/erikkain/2011/05/18/iraq-war-veteran-jose-guerena-killed-by-arizona-swat-team/
Why take that away from tourists? It's definitely part of the Amsterdam "scene." For those young people who flock to Amsterdam or Prague just to get high, that may be a problem. But for those of us "boomers" who would like to enjoy a memory of our past in the present moment, it seems like such a foolish thing to do to severely limit cannabis to tourists.
And, as far as business goes, think of how many tourists you may lose. At my age, I'd go back to Amsterdam (especially because the Van Gough Museum was closed for renovations when I was there). But I would also love to get high, nurse a Heineken for a few hours, and just sit back and enjoy.
Of course in the U.S. daily you can see on the news drug related gang killings in every state and city in the country.
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