Cannabis cup busted

What a step backwards. I've always looked forward to the idea of travelling to a different cannabis festival around the world every year once I've got the money. Seems my luck is looking bad if the most lax country that hosts such festivals is turning on its own forward-thinking policies let alone how other cannabis-friendly countries could follow in the wake of this

 

THE HAGUE - Non-Dutch residents will be banned from cannabis-selling coffee shops in southern Netherlands from January 1 to spare locals from the nuisance of drug tourism, the justice ministry said Tuesday.

The centre-right government of Prime Minister Mark Rutte has since September 2010 been weighing a "cannabis card", reserved for nationals and obligatory when visiting one of the country's 670 licenced coffee shops.

"The measure will come into force for the (southern) provinces of Limburg, North-Brabant and Zeeland, the provinces most affected by drug tourism, on January 1," justice ministry spokeswoman Charlotte Menten told AFP.

Under the new policy, which some have warned could drastically curb tourism revenues, licenced coffee shops will be considered private clubs with a maximum of 2,000 members limited to Dutch residents who are older than 18.

Menten said the measures would come into force in the rest of the country in January 2013.

The policy aims to cut down traffic jams, nocturnal disturbances, and the abundance of drug pushers catering to the millions of foreign tourists drawn to the Netherlands by its relaxed marijuana laws.

Coffee shop owners have come out against the measures, citing expected losses in revenue.

The European Court of Justice ruled in December that banning foreigners was justified "by the objective of combating drug tourism and the accompanying public nuisance".

The Dutch government also plans to introduce a policy, coming into force in January 2014, requiring coffee shops to be at least 350 meters (1,200 feet) away from schools, to keep drug consumption away from children, Menten said.

Though technically illegal, the Netherlands decriminalised the possession of less than five grammes (0.18 ounce) of cannabis in 1976 under a so-called "tolerance" polic

Read more: www.montrealgazette.com/life/Tourists+ba...y.html#ixzz1diLr78kL
Keep The Faith The Truth Will Prevail

 

More like to finally get the conservatives and the international realm to shut up and get their own hand in the dirty profits of the War on Drugs with each harsher policy I thought they were better than this. Well at least they're doing good outside of drug laws

 

It's the way you use capitalism that's the issue, not the idea itself. Countries like the U.S. use it to such extremes and it's so unrestrained that it creates the rich/poor gap and oligarchical nature that everyone's protesting about right now.

But when it's moderate and incorporates elements of socialism (e.g. Norway, Australia, not coincidentally the leaders in human development and social well-being for years and more to come) then it's the best system we've got imo. What's a viable alternative? Unless you're one of those anarchists I keep encountering on here, if so I'd rather not hear it

 

From what I know about the US. This is very true. The problem's systemic, as well, no new leader will solve it. The system needs to be worked from the inside out to solve its problems. That's why I like anti-corruption and other NGO's and support them much more than the idea of a new leader. Of course this is a Western issue in general