Coffee shop owners promised payout over crackdown on cannabis, but were warned other drug moves would remain

This article is more than 7 years old

This article is more than 7 years old

A Dutch court has ordered the government to compensate owners of cannabis-selling cafes who say they are losing money because of measures to stamp out drug tourism.

But in a setback for owners of so-called coffee shops, The Hague district court ruling also said other moves to prevent foreigners from buying soft drugs in the Netherlands were legitimate.

It said turning coffee shops in the southern Netherlands into private member-only clubs last year deterred not only foreigners but also domestic customers, and ordered compensation for the cafe owners. The amount will be settled later.

The decision was the latest skirmish in a long-running legal battle between the government, which wants officially tolerated coffee shops to sell cannabis only to locals, and owners of the cafes, who insist they should be allowed to sell to anybody.

Cannabis is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but police turn a blind eye to possession of small amounts and it is sold openly in coffee shops. Large-scale growers are prosecuted.

Michael Veling, a spokesman for the Dutch Union of Cannabis Retailers, said the group was disappointed by the parts of the ruling that upheld anti-drug-tourism measures and would appeal.

The Dutch ministry of security and justice called the judgment a powerful underpinning of the present policy, adding that it saw grounds to appeal against the ruling that said turning coffee shops into private clubs was too harsh and unnecessary.

Under a government policy change that came into force on 1 May last year in southern provinces close to the Dutch borders with Germany and Belgium, only holders of a "weed pass" are allowed to buy cannabis. The measure took aim at problems caused by the thousands of foreigners who pour across the borders each year to buy drugs.

The government scrapped the pass in November, but continued its policy of allowing coffee shops to sell drugs only to Dutch residents. However, it said local authorities would be responsible for enforcing the measure.

Amsterdam, whose scores of coffee shops are a major tourist attraction, immediately said it would continue to allow tourists to buy cannabis in the cafes.