Source: ANP

5 June 2013

Coffeeshops in the South of the Netherlands have suffered unnecessary losses by the ‘weedpass’ during several months. Therefore the Dutch State has to pay them a compensation.

This verdict was made public by a court in The Hague today.

According to the judges clients of coffeeshops in Limburg, North-Brabant and Zeeland were intimidated by the requirement to register as a member of the coffeeshop as a closed club.

That measure is too strict, says the court. The desired effect, which was to ward off foreign drug tourists, could have been reached if clients of coffeeshops could prove that they reside in the Netherlands.

The heighth of the compensation is unknown still, a separate procedure will have to deal with this issue.

Dutch state must compensate part of the losses of the weedpass

The Hague , 5-6-2013

The court in The Hague considers that one aspect of the weedpass (the so-called “closed club-criterium”) represents an un proportionnally large violation of the interests of the visitors of coffeeshops. Through this measure, coffeeshops in the South of the Netherlands have suffered financial losses for several months, because their customers were intimidated. The Dutch State should compensate these losses.

A less extreme element of the weedpass (the residence-criterium) would in itself have reached the desired goal, according to the court in The Hague. The government itself has already acknowledged that the limitation of the sale of cannabis to Dutch people has generated a strong reduction of drug tourism.

The State will have to pay a financial compensation to a number of coffeeshop owners in Limburg, North-Brabant and Zeeland. The heighth of the compensation will be determined at a later stage.

The limitation of the sale to Dutch residents only is permitted according to the court, as it is an effective measure against drug tourism from abroad. Because of this effectiveness, according to the court, this policy does not violate European regulations.

Verdict: CA1921

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