AMSTERDAM (AP) — The Dutch government's plan to stop tourists from buying marijuana was apparently set back Wednesday after a key decision by the country's top legal advisory body.
The Cabinet wants to curtail the country's liberal marijuana policy to address problems caused by an estimated 3.9 million French, German and Belgian buyers who drive across the Dutch border annually to purchase the drug. It also wants to crack down on organized criminal gangs its says control the marijuana farming industry.
The Council of State ruled on a 2006 ordinance by the southern border city of Maastricht barring foreigners from "coffee shops," where cannabis is openly sold.
The council said Maastricht had overstepped its authority, because selling marijuana is already theoretically illegal in the Netherlands, by national law — even though under the country's tolerance policy police don't prosecute people for possessing small amounts.
"Given this absolute ban laid down in law, in a formal sense there's no room for a municipality to further regulate the sale of marijuana and hash by its own ordinances," the ruling said.
The ruling also said that barring nonresidents from buying weed would not be unconstitutional discrimination — if done at a national level. It's not clear whether that means the country's drug laws would have to be amended or if a national policy change could be possible.
Reactions to the ruling were mixed.
Justice Ministry spokesman Wiebe Alkema said the government is convinced the ruling won't prevent it from its preferred solution: forcing cannabis buyers to obtain a "weed pass" in order to purchase weed. Coffee shops would issue the passes, similar to gym membership cards, only to people who can present a Dutch passport or resident visa, making tourists ineligible.
Critics say such a pass would be violate privacy laws, and would be unworkable in practice.
Alkema said he couldn't say yet whether the government would seek to change the law. "We're looking at the possibilities, and expect to present a plan in the short term," he said.
The city of Amsterdam opposes the pass plan, arguing that tourists who come to Amsterdam and smoke weed usually stay several nights and contribute to the city's economy.
Manon Fokke, leader of the opposition Labor party in Maastricht, said the ruling means that if the government wants to ban foreigners it will have to change the law — a time consuming and difficult task. She said her city should look at other options, such as relegating coffee shops to the city's outskirts.
Prime Minister Mark Rutte repeated that he will press ahead with the weed pass idea in some form.
"I'm convinced that the best approach is to make coffee shops closed clubs that you need a Dutch passport and be over 18 to get into," he told the Foreign Press Association.
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