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发帖数: 29846 | 1 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/08/AR2010100806139.html
Amsterdam's cannabis-selling coffee shops face crackdown
The drive to shut down many of Amsterdam's cannabis coffee shops coincides
with a tightening of regulations on the sex trade. Both industries thrive in
the city's red-light district.
The drive to shut down many of Amsterdam's cannabis coffee shops coincides
with a tightening of regulations on the sex trade. Both industries thrive in
the city's red-light district. (Peter Dejong/associated Press)
By Stanley Pignal
Friday, October 8, 2010; 7:08 PM
Coffee shops legally selling cannabis have been a feature of Amsterdam's
streets for more than 30 years, a magnet for younger tourists and a symbol
of the Dutch brand of liberal exceptionalism.
But the fragrant haze found in the city's 200 or so establishments could be
dispersed under plans by the incoming government, which is looking to roll
back the "tolerance policy" that has allowed such shops to operate since
1976.
Coinciding with a tightening of laws regarding prostitution - another
tolerated industry - the authorities' new stance on cannabis is raising
questions about whether Dutch society is moving away from laissez-faire
traditions, which have included some of the earliest gay-friendly policies
in Europe and the provision of free contraception to teenage girls.
Certainly the outlook for coffee shops is bleak. Among the few policies that
the three parties in the new coalition government agree on is the need to
reduce their numbers. The governing agreement released last week laid out
plans that will force them to become members-only clubs and shut down those
shops located near schools.
The coalition is also advancing the idea of prohibiting the sale of cannabis
to non-Dutch residents, which amounts to a death knell for many coffee
shops.
"It's a head-on attack," said Gerrit Jan ten Bloemendal, a coffee-shop owner
and vice chairman of the Netherlands Cannabis Platform, an advocacy group.
The crackdown is part of a broader law-and-order drive promoted in
particular by Geert Wilders, the anti-Islam protester whose far-right
Freedom Party, the PVV, made the biggest gains in the June elections. Though
the PVV is not formally part of the incoming coalition, it helped draft
legislation as part of a deal to support the government.
The stricter stance comes after years of gradual tightening of rules
governing cannabis sales and a 2007 ban on the selling of alcohol in coffee
shops. Although the shops proliferated in the 1980s and early 1990s, their
numbers have dropped by half in the past 15 years, from around 1,400 in 1995
to about 700 today.
"For sure, if the reforms go through it will impact business," said Maciej
Truszkowski, owner of the Seville, a small, dimly lit coffee shop just off a
canal. There are no displays of hemp leaves or any other sign that cannabis
is for sale, in line with strict advertising rules, though multiple
portraits of Bob Marley hint at the core business.
Truszkowski said that if he cannot sell cannabis to foreigners, someone else
will.
On a quiet weekday at lunchtime recently, a couple of locals walked in and
asked for a cannabis menu. But British and American students made up most of
the clientele. Truszkowski said foreigners provide half his business, a
figure he thinks is much higher for coffee shops nearer Amsterdam's red-
light district, a 10-minute walk away.
Rules governing the sex industry have been tightened and measures put forth
to halve the size of the red-light district. |
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