It will be interesting to see how this impacts the tourist numbers. A lot of people from all over Europe visit Amsterdam to get high so like it or not, those visitors do bring in cash. Maybe a lot of them are younger travelers who aren't spending a lot of money but it's not like a few stoners are going to be that rowdy. From what I have seen in Amsterdam since my first visit in the 1980s is that the harder drug business is widely available on the streets, with little reluctance to hide the business or the activity itself. The coffee shops seem to be the least of the problems of the drug business. Reuters:
The Dutch government on Friday said it would start banning tourists from buying cannabis from "coffee shops" and impose restrictions on Dutch customers by the end of the year.
The Netherlands is well known for having one of Europe's most liberal soft drug policies that has made its cannabis shops a popular tourist attraction, particularly in Amsterdam.
Backed by the far-right party of anti-immigrant politician Geert Wilders, the coalition government that came into power last year announced plans to curb drug tourism as part of a nationwide program to promote health and fight crime.
