No More Pot for Amsterdam Tourists

Foreigners in the Netherlands will be banned from purchasing marijuana and hashish at "coffee shops."

The Netherlands will soon be free of tourists stoned out of their gourd. The Dutch government, led by the Christian Democrats, has announced that tourists will no longer be permitted to buy marijuana or hashish in coffee shops across the country. Starting in May, three southern provinces will limit sales to local residents, and the rest of the country (including Amsterdam) will ban the sale of drugs to tourists by January 2013. The move is reputedly a response to public health issues and concerns about gang-violence. The 223 Amsterdam “coffee shops,” which draw about a million tourists annually, will have to register up to 2,000 members at each location who are allowed to buy marijuana or hashish.