The Netherlands Board of Tourism & Conventions (NBTC) has criticised the government’s plan that aims to ban foreigners from coffee-shops on grounds of the negative effect that the measure can have for tourism. According to this agency coffee-shops and soft drugs is the main reason why at least 7% of people visit the city. The agency has affirmed that if the law “transpires that fewer tourists visit the Netherlands it will be a cause of great regret for us”. This number, however, is very small compared to the figures provided by the Cannabis College Foundation (CCF) which quoting The central bureau of statistics has warned that tourism could drop by 20%. On top of that an internal research conducted by the Foundation has concluded that 85% people would not be coming back to Amsterdam if the ban was in place.

Thanks to a new initiative pushed by the Dutch conservative government weed tourism in Amsterdam could soon become something of the past. A good collective memory shared by people all over the world who used to visit the city attracted by its spirit of freedom might remain the only reminiscence of the days of pot and roses.

NBTC or the CCF are not the only institutions expressing their concerns about the government’s plans. The city major has also explained that excluding foreigners from coffee-shops would bring unregulated and illegal drug trade back to the streets jeopardising public safety as well as discriminating against non-Dutch people. The major’s remark is important due to Amsterdam’s extremely open minded, friendly, warm and hospitable reputation. Furthermore the major and different agencies also believe that the government’s arguments are unfounded as tourists do not cause any considerable criminal activity and any possible nuisance near the coffee-shops is under control.

The plan which has not been given an exact date yet will be firstly introduced in the southern part of the nation first, where cannabis tourism is very popular among the German and French and later on implemented in the capital. Another independent report has concluded that preventing foreigners from legally smoking weed will have negative effects and cause an awkward situation because the coffee shops belong to the Dutch culture and banning tourists will really hit the city bad. The report also concludes that many young foreigners after their first visit will not return at an older age when they have more money to spend

The main problem behind the governmental decision is very easy to understand: Coffee-shops will be turned into clubs and only Dutch residents will be issued with membership cards (weed cards). This does not even look good for Dutch cannabis users as coffee-shop will have a maximum of 1,500 members and to that it must be added that the government also intends to close all the coffee-shops near schools and parks. The number of these establishments could reach 186 in Amsterdam alone. This situation undoubtedly is going to reverse the supply-demand curve reducing the number of legal dispensaries, restricting the number of users and as a consequence creating a black market for all the excluded. The direct outcome will be more of the same criminalisation experienced in the rest of the world.

For those resisting, combating and acting against the government’s decision there might be some hope as the Justice Ministry spokesman Wim van der Weegen stated that the Supreme Court has still not decided whether or not they can block foreigners completely