Netherlands

Netherlands: Dutch to Close Cannabis Cafes to Tourists

Date: November 23rd, 2010 |

The Dutch government is moving forward with plans to ban tourists from “coffee shops” that sell marijuana and permit pot smoking. Such cafes are popular among tourists throughout the country but especially in Amsterdam, where tourism officials worry that the ban will reduce the number of visitors to the city. They estimate that one-quarter of [read more]

Netherlands: Cannabis Coffee Shops to Become Private Clubs

Date: May 13th, 2009 |

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Cannabis cafes in Limburg province, which borders Belgium and Germany, will become private members’ clubs at the beginning of next year to cut down on drug tourism. Officials believe that the plan, which will require a processing period of several days to obtain a membership card, will block access to marijuana for the bulk of [read more]

Netherlands: Two Towns to Close Pot “Coffee Shops”

Date: October 29th, 2008 |

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Two Dutch towns have seen enough of their pot-smoking coffee shops and intend to close them all down within two years. Authorities in the towns of Roosendaal and Bergen-op-Zoom will begin closing the eight coffee shops in the two towns in February 2009. They say the 25,000 French and Belgian “drug tourists” they get each [read more]

Netherlands: Three-Day Waiting Period to Buy Magic Mushrooms in Amsterdam

Date: October 18th, 2007 |

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A sharp increase in ambulance calls involving magic mushrooms prompted Amsterdam officials to implement a three-day waiting period for purchasing them. The ordinance is an attempt to stop tourists from indulging in what can be a dangerous practice because most tourists don’t stay in Amsterdam more than three days. In the most recent statistics, 92 [read more]

Netherlands: Thieves Stealing PIN Numbers

Date: May 9th, 2006 |

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A gang of thieves has infiltrated many stores on main shopping streets in cities throughout the Netherlands and has been stealing data from debit card readers. In some cases they have posed as technicians to place card readers on machines or set up hidden cameras to observe PINs being entered during transactions. Police have established [read more]

Netherlands: EU Court Supports Maastricht’s Ban on Foreigners in “Coffee Shops”

Date: July 21st, 2010 |

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Maastricht, a town near the borders of Belgium and Germany and not far from France, plans to ban foreigners from its marijuana cafes, better known as “coffee shops,” because of the daily influx of thousands of tourists looking to get high. Some 4,000 drug tourists cross the borders every day with more on weekends, composing [read more]

Netherlands: Report Shows Anti-Gay Violence in Amsterdam Not Diminishing

Date: November 26th, 2008 |

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Amsterdam is not as tolerant as it thinks it is, according to a recent University of Amsterdam study that showed that anti-gay violence is ingrained in the community and is not decreasing. The study said 67 attacks on gay men occurred in 2007, a number a police commissioner called about average for recent years. Authorities [read more]

Netherlands: Threat Level Raised to “Substantial”

Date: March 12th, 2008 |

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The government raised the terrorist threat level to “substantial” March 6 because of increasing links between foreign and European jihadist networks, terror-related arrests in Germany, Denmark, Spain and the United Kingdom in the past year, and the forthcoming March 28 release of a controversial film on the Koran by a Dutch legislator. The Dutch prime [read more]

Netherlands: Amsterdam’s Red Light District to Lose 51 Display Windows

Date: September 26th, 2007 |

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Over the next few months Amsterdam officials will close a third of the city’s brothels because of concerns over rising petty crime in the red-light district that has been a tourist magnet for decades. Prostitution is legal and licensed in Amsterdam and the city is renowned for its rows of windows where sex workers preen [read more]

Worldwide: Possible Delays on Flights to U.S.

Date: October 25th, 2005 |

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New security regulations implemented by U.S. Customs and Border Protection require passengers flying to the U.S. to provide detailed information about their intended visits. This information includes the address they will stay on arrival, the hotel they will be checking into, or, if the first night is not booked, an explanation of where they will [read more]

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