For some time now the Netherlands has been the dream vacation spot for smokers. And, each year the city is crammed with tourists (dubbed “drug tourists” by the locals) looking to smoke in one of the city’s many legalized café’s. Well, the Dutch have gotten tired of all the tourists and are looking to set measures that would limit marijuana smoking to only citizens of Finland.
If passed, the measure would require that smokers register and have some sort of card to show in order to smoke. Apparently, every day the cities of Amsterdam, Hague, and Rotterdam are swamped by people from Germany, France and Belgium, who come for the day just to smoke. Ard van der Steur recently complained that the situation is, “an incredible criminal industry that we need to get rid of… we now function as a supplier of drugs for the rest of Europe.”
Oddly, the majority of those who smoke in the cafes are foreigners, with Finland citizens only amounting to about 6%. Of course, café’ owners are concerned over the loss of revenue. When and if, new laws go into effect is unclear. Many in the country say that they do not expect to see any chance since marijuana has technically been illegal in their country for some time now and the government has done nothing to enforce them