Amsterdam’s Coffeeshop Crackdown

For the past half-century, Amsterdam has been considered the Cannabis capital of Europe, if not the world. Long before legalization seemed possible here in America, Amsterdam’s coffeeshops were the only place where one could buy and consume marijuana openly without fear of criminal repercussion – thanks to the Netherlands’ policy of “soft drug” tolerance (gedoogbeleid). But over the past decade, that tolerance has eroded due to the right-leaning Christian national government and complaints from the citizenry.

Now, Amsterdam’s first female mayor Femke Halsema is proposing to enforce the nation's “wietpas” (weed pass) policy—which would ban tourists from visiting coffeeshops—in the capital for the first time.

Read the full story on leafmagazines.com here.