Amsterdam may ban tourists from buying cannabis

The mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema, is intent on reducing the number of outlets selling cannabis in the red-light district in the city which attracts almost 17 times more tourists than its resident population each year.

According to The Guardian, the mayor has announced that she wants to reduce the attraction of drug-use to tourists as the city struggles with over-tourism and an increasingly seedy atmosphere.

Halsema sent a tourist survey’s results to councillors along with a letter announcing her intention.

The survey showed that ‘34% of all those who visit the Singel area, where the red-light district is located, would come less often to the city if foreigners were not allowed to buy cannabis from the coffee shops, while 11% would never come again.’

The tourists, of all different nationalities, who responded to the survey were between 18 and 35 years old.

Of these, 40% said that if a ban was enforced they wouldn’t use ‘hashish or weed’ on their visits, however, 22% said they would let a local go to the coffee shop on their behalf and 18% said ‘they would find another way to buy the drug.’

In a separate incident on Thursday, Amsterdam city hall announced that tour groups of the red-light district and parts of Amsterdam with sex workers’ windows would officially be banned from 1 April. Guided tours in the city centre would require a permit.