The city of Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, announced this Thursday (9) that it will ban marijuana consumption on the streets of the De Wellen district, the red light district, known for sex clubs, and tighten the rules for neighborhood establishments. Norms relating to the sale and consumption of alcohol will also be tightened.
The measures try to mitigate the negative effects of mass tourism in the region, which have been bothering residents. “Residents suffer a lot from mass tourism and the abuse of alcohol and drugs on the streets. Tourists also attract drug dealers to the streets, which are the cause of crime and insecurity. The atmosphere at night can be especially dark,” the equivalent agency said in a statement. to the city council.
The new norms will be valid from mid-May, and the authorities are considering extending the prohibition of marijuana to external areas of so-called coffeeshops, stores that sell cannabis.
Establishments that sell alcohol are already prohibited from selling alcoholic products after 4 pm from Thursday to Sunday, and now they must also remove them from the windows.
Cafes and restaurants bring their 3 am closing time forward — they currently close at 3 am on weekdays and 4 am on weekends. New customers will only be able to enter until 1 am. Prostitution houses are also targeted by the measures. Previously open until 6 am, they will need to close at 3 am.
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