Pamka Helmasma, the mayor of Amsterdam, has further submitted to the city council a proposal that tourists and foreign visitors will no longer be allowed to the city’s famous ‘coffee shops’, through which he can not consume more money than other free marijuana. Under the proposal, that if approved would be implemented as early as 2022 and supported by the Amsterdam Police and the City Attorney’s Office, the many businesses that sell marijuana are dangerous to bring in and sell exclusively to citizens holding Dutch foundations.
I found, Helmasma seeks to solve two problems she has addressed more times since she was elected mayor in 2018. The first is the tourists who come to Amsterdam every month and the surrounding area, she claims, in the quality of life of Amsterdam residents. In thought, more than a million tourists used to visit Amsterdam every month (until the Corona period), and the municipality hopes to close the Coffee Shops to places only, building for a significant drop in the number of tourists coming to the city each year.
The second thought is part of the war of the lesma and the local police in the organized crime organizations, which are exploiting the drug tourism of Amsterdam after the transfer and selection of harder drugs and illegal trade. “The cannabis market in Amsterdam is too big and well flooded,” Halmasma declared. “I want to reduce it and control it. It is a show of space, but I can see no other option. Amsterdam can be an open, tolerant and host city, but I too can be tough on other workers and criminals and reduce tourism inflation.”
Amsterdam has over 160 cannabis shops and coffee shops scattered throughout the city. If and when the offer is accepted and implemented, the city will lose one of its tourist symbols, and tourists who want to purchase marijuana will have to look for other cities to do so. Fortunately, Amsterdam is only responsible for a third of the cannabis shops of the world citizens, so they can be many others of the various city and vehicle district.