Amsterdam looks to ban tourists from 'coffee' shops that sell pot

Talk about a buzz kill.

Tourists looking to visit Amsterdam's infamous "coffee" shops where marijuana is openly sold may soon see their travel plans go up in smoke.

The Netherlands' new government has pledged to ban foreigners from being able to cop cannabis in the more than 200 shops licensed to peddle pot - which has long been a huge draw for toke-happy travelers to the liberal Dutch capital.

"Of course tourists are welcome to visit the Netherlands, but not only to visit the coffee shops," said Dutch justice minister Ivo Opstelten, according to guardian.co.uk.

"In the near future, if we work out the processes, the coffee shops will not be accessible to tourists."

Selling pot isn't technically legal in The Netherlands, but since the mid-1970s coffee shops have been allowed to sell up to 5g per person to anyone 18 years or older.

The proposed ban, meant to curtail criminal activity related to the sale of cannabis - there are an estimated 40,000 illegal marijuana farms in The Netherlands - doesn't have a set timeframe.

But the news is still a bummer for marijuana mavens who regularly flock to Amsterdam and other Dutch cities for pot pilgrimages that are sometimes even part of organized travel tours and events.

The annual Amsterdam Cannabis Cup, a counterculture business expo featuring seminars, sales booths and the requisite smoking, is being held this week through Nov. 25 and attracts stoners from around the world.

One U.K.-based company, Dam Express, offers "party" weekends in Amsterdam that range from $95 to $160 per person and include guaranteed stops in several coffee shops plus a tour of the city's notorious red light district - where prostitution is legal and scantily-clad women posing in windows hawk their wares to passers-bys.

"Most of our clients are English, they come for a stag party, they mix drugs with alcohol," an employee at one Amsterdam shop told guardian.co.uk. "This is very (messed) up," he said of the ban on foreigners. "All these coffee shops will have to close."

A worker at another coffee shop said the ban would only lead to more crime. "They say it's to avoid criminality but it will create more criminality," he said. "If they can't go to coffee shops they will buy it from Dutch people on the streets."

According to msnbc.com, Amsterdam officials are already in the process of closing down some coffee shops in the red light district, where street dealers selling hard drugs and other unsavory types are known to harrass tourists.

No word yet on how the proposed ban would affect the sale of Ring Dings, Cap'n Crunch and other late-night munchie staples.

From: NYDailynews.com