Could Amsterdam's days as a cannabis capital be numbered?

[marmar]

Could Amsterdam's days as a cannabis capital be numbered?

Mayor attempts ban on cannabis sales to tourists as government moves to further regulate iconic coffeeshops
John Last · CBC News · Posted: Jan 02, 2023 4:00 AM ET | Last Updated: 8 hours ago


On an average night in Amsterdam's De Wallen district, the streets are packed with tourists — often on their worst behaviour.

"We are being confronted with people vomiting, screaming, pissing, pooping," said Arjan Welles, until recently a resident of the district. "This part of the city has only one purpose — to please the tourists."

Travellers come to De Wallen — better known as the Red Light district — for many reasons: sex shows, bachelor parties, pub crawls. But one attraction has proved bigger than them all: the city's iconic coffeeshops, where legal cannabis has been sold to tourists for decades.

A recent survey found roughly half of the city's 20 million annual visitors say visiting a coffeeshop is a top reason for travelling to the city — powering an industry worth nearly €1 billion ($1.4 billion), according to one estimate.

....(snip)....

Despite a petition with hundreds of supporters, a long debate at council, and the full backing of the city's mayor and police chief, the initiative failed to pass again this fall due to concerns it could lead to an explosion in the black market.

And yet, there's reason to believe the city's era of drug tourism may be coming to an end.

Amid a broader trend toward legalization in Europe, the Netherlands is reevaluating its relationship with cannabis — and potentially upending the coffeeshop industry in the process. ..............(more)

https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/amsterdam-cannabis-coffeeshops-1.6686279

[Midnight Writer]

1. "people vomiting, screaming, pissing, pooping" sounds more like an alcohol related problem.

[RussBLib]

2. Why bother with Amsterdam?

When you can now buy rec weed in the US right over there?

[IbogaProject]

3. NYC is just getting started

And yes those described behaviours are clearly alcohol or booze & weed putting people into a daze. And frankly that liberalization was a success the hard and soft drugs got separated in the 70s and 80s.