A new law will make it illegal to smoke cannabis in Amsterdam's Red Light District, it has been announced. The Daily Mirror reports that it will become illegal to use the drug on the street in the area from mid-May this year.
It will now be forbidden to use cannabis in public spaces in the inner city between 4pm and 1am from Thursday to Sunday. City's officials Amsterdam are also considering a ban on take-away cannabis sales in the same time frame, Dutch News reports.
A ban of smoking in the spaces outside coffee shops - where cannabis can be bought - is also being considered. Before the new rules come into force all restaurants, bars and sex shows will be forced to close their doors at 2am and brothels at 3am, instead of 6am, from April.
Also, any establishment selling alcohol will have to close from 1am. Diederik Boomsma, leader of the local Christian Democrats, celebrated news of the change.
He told Dutch News: "Some days you can’t even walk around the centre without breathing in the persistent stench of cannabis fumes, with glassy-eyed tourist zombies staggering about. That has to stop.
"Amsterdam needs to finally get rid of its image as a Valhalla for paid sex and drugs. [Our] message to tourists: 'Welcome! But if you’re coming just to snort, swallow or smoke drugs: don’t'."
A spokesperson for the city said that the atmosphere in the Red Light District had become "dire" at night. "A lot of people are under the influence (of drugs and alcohol) and hang around for a long time," she said. "This comes at the expense of a good night’s sleep for residents and the liveability and safety of the whole neighbourhood.
"There will be a ban on drinking alcohol in public, more measures against drug dealers on the streets, and restrictions on alcohol sales in local shops in the red light district, where alcohol sales are already forbidden from Thursday night to Sunday."
It is estimated that 2.5million Brits travel to Amsterdam every year, making up more than 10 per cent of annual tourists. However, people who visit Amsterdam to partake in cannabis smoking, may soon be able to have similar holidays in Germany.
The country is set to become the second European nation to allow the use of marijuana after the government released a plan to legalise the drug in October. However before the move goes through Germany must convince the EU.
The European Commission has the power to determine whether the proposed policy change contradicts a 2004 legal decision regulating drug laws across the bloc.
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