BCDBond vanCannabisDetaillisten
PRESS RELEASE
Recent press
reports have suggested that a ‘weed pass’ is about to be
introduced in
coffeeshops. This
news release is intended to provide the full information
on this situation
and to rectify these erroneous reports.
NO
The concept of a ‘weed pass’ that would restrict
tourists from visiting coffeeshops in the
in
city. For over thirty years coffeeshops in
environment for consumption of soft drugs. This will remain so in the future.
The wide choice of coffeeshops available to tourists means that
they will have no need buy their
cannabis on the street. Thus the coffeeshops are
fulfilling exactly the function for which they
were established.
Put forward by the Dutch Justice Minister, Ivo
Opstelten, the ‘weed pass’ is still at
proposal stage and will not even be discussed by the
Dutch Parliament until 2012. What is
more the Supreme Court equivalent in the
discrimination against tourists is outside of the law
unless those tourists are responsible for
more public disorder than residents.
Within its ruling the Council of State made an exception under which, in cases of severe public disturbance,
mayors may discriminate against nonresidents provided they can be proved to be responsible.
Since coffeeshops are notorious for their peaceful and non-violent ambiance -- no coffeeshop
has ever been charged under a public
order act -- such an exception is somewhat academic.
The ‘weed pass’ proposal was originally formulated in
response to cross-border criminal
buyers of large quantities of cannabis and large
numbers of tourist buyers in the most
southerly Limburg province of the
The proposal
was intended for implementation in
and other towns in
Cannabis Retailers
Association,