Cafes in Amsterdam.
Photographer: Ramon Van Flyemen / AFP / Getty Images
Photographer: Ramon Van Flyemen / AFP / Getty Images
In an effort to clean up its image, Amsterdam aims to restrict a key tourist attraction: its cafes.
Only Dutch residents would be allowed to enter cannabis outlets, at the suggestion of Mayor Femke Halsema. The plan, backed by local police and prosecutors, aims to combat the flow of hard drugs and organized crime related to the marijuana trade.
“The cannabis market is too big and overheated,” Halsema said in e-mail comments. “I want to reduce the cannabis market and make it manageable. The condition of residence is broad, but I see no alternative. “
Halsema presented the Amsterdam council’s plan on Friday, starting a political debate, including talks on a transitional agreement with store owners. She expects the policy to take effect as early as next year.
The initiative is Amsterdam’s latest move to actively reduce the flow of visitors and improve the quality of life for residents. Crowds gathered in the city as cheaper flights made its historic center a popular weekend destination.
Read more: Amsterdam does not want to have anything to do with the revitalization of European tourism
Before the coronavirus was blocked, its famous red light district, marijuana shops and picturesque canals attracted more than 1 million visitors a month – more than its permanent population.
“Cafes, especially in the center, are mostly occupied by tourists,” said Halsema. “The growth of tourism has only increased the demand” and has led to the criminalization of hard drugs in this process.
While stopping tourism due to the pandemic has hit the city’s budget, Amsterdam’s first female mayor is determined to reshape the sector after the crisis eases. Closing the free-wheeled marijuana trade could stop a large number of partygoers.
Read more: The brothels in Amsterdam will receive a review by the city’s first female mayor
A trip to a cafe was a “very important” reason for 57% of foreign visitors to the area, which includes the red light district, according to research commissioned by the city government.
Amsterdam is home to 166 cafes and most would not be needed if the plan were in place. Local demand for cannabis would support only 68, according to the government study.
Similar restrictions have already been applied in Maastricht and Den Bosch, which have reacted to overcrowded cafes by visitors from Germany, France and Belgium. The efforts are backed by a 2013 Dutch law aimed at boosting the local cannabis market and reducing drug tourism.
Halsema says he expects support from the business community, many downtown entrepreneurs are no longer in favor of Amsterdam’s reputation for unrestricted access to sex and drugs.
“We can be an open, hospitable and tolerant city, but also a city that makes the lives of criminals difficult and slows down mass tourism,” she said.