Monday 01 May, 2012
EINDHOVEN – Beginning May 1, 2012 coffee shops in Brabant, Limburg and Zeeland will become private clubs in which you must join to make your usual joint or to go buy weed.
The government is taking this measure to combat crime and nuisance, associated with coffee shops and drug trafficking.Coffee shops need to become more manageable and less appealing to users from abroad. Only persons aged 18 or older can become members of a coffee shop. To become a member one must present a printout from the municipality (een uittreksel van de gemeente). Coffee shop doors will now be closed for foreign tourists.Coffee shops must give out and keep up with their own membership records. Research conducted by Omroep Brabant shows that half of the Brabant coffee shop clients will not apply for a ‘wietpas’ (weedpass) application. Mandatory registration is the main complaint. There is a fear of encountering ill effects when applying for a new job. People with exemplary professions (eg. police officers and doctors) also have a problem with it.The study also shows that many marijuana users, now claim they will be purchasing their soft drugs from street dealers, to bypass registering their names. Almost half of users think weed is easy to purchase on the street. A large part of the coffee shop visitors seem to have no problem with it as well.As of January 1, 2013 these new rules will also apply for coffee shops in the rest of the Netherlands. In addition, a coffee shop from that date on is allowed a maximum of only 2000 members.Source: Eindhoven Dichtbij
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