Travel
Amsterdam Wants to Restrict Tourists From Its Marijuana Shops
- Only Dutch residents would be allowed in city’s coffee shops
- Cannabis trade has become ‘too big and overheated,’ mayor says
Coffee shops in Amsterdam.
Photographer: Ramon Van Flyemen/AFP/Getty Images
In an effort to clean up its image, Amsterdam aims to restrict a key tourist attraction: its coffee shops.
Only Dutch residents would be allowed to enter the cannabis-dealing outlets under a proposal by Mayor Femke Halsema. The plan, backed by local police and prosecutors, is aimed at tackling the flow of hard drugs and organized crime linked to the marijuana trade.