European Court Weighs Dutch Cannabis Ban for Foreigners - by Paul van der Steen

The continuing struggle of Dutch border towns against drug tourism could soon take a new turn, as the European Court of Justice (ECJ) prepares to hand down a ruling regarding one of the most severe measures employed in this battle so far.

Last Thursday, the ECJ heard arguments in Josemans v. Maastricht. The case dates to 2006, when authorities found two foreign nationals on the premises of Easy Going, a coffee shop that sells cannabis. Maastricht is the largest city in the far south of the Netherlands; it sits directly on the Belgian border and is only a 30 minute drive from Germany. The Easy Going coffee shop there is owned by Marc Josemans, who is also the chairman of a branch association to which the city's coffee shop owners belong.

The judges expressed surprise over the Dutch drug policy. They asked what the coffee shop's permit was for exactly, if the sale of cannabis was technically illegal in the Netherlands. The court also wondered who supplied the drugs on sale to the coffee shop. The state perhaps?

Note EU-Digest: The Dutch soft-drug policy has been a bonanza for criminals and makes it possible for the under-aged to purchase drugs anytime and everywhere they want in the Netherlands, and increased criminal activity in the schools and on the street.

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