New Dutch Goverment wants to require cannabis pass

New Dutch Goverment wants to require cannabis pass - many oppose them

Monday 06 December 2010

Plans to introduce special passes for cannabis café users in Eindhoven and surrounding towns in an effort to stamp out drugs related violence, will have the opposite effect, Tilburg university researcher Nicole Maalsté says in Monday’sTrouw.

The government hopes coffee shops will become smaller and less vulnerable to organised crime if only locals can use them.

However, Maalsté says tourists who want to buy drugs will simply look for street dealers. In addition, there are many Dutch nationals who do not want to be registered as official marijuana users, she says.

‘Which problem do we want to solve with the pass?,’ she asks. ‘Eindhoven does not have a problem with drugs tourism.’

The European court of justice will rule on December 16 whether banning foreigners from entering coffee shops is legal under EU law.

The new government wants to introduce the pass nationwide.