A new regulation prohibiting outdoor cannabis smoking on the streets of Amsterdam’s Red Light District is set to be enforced later this month.
The ban, officially approved by Amsterdam’s city council last week, will come into effect on May 25 and will be enforced by police and local officials, according to Bloomberg. Violations of the new law will result in a €100 (or $109) fine.
The law was proposed by the Amsterdam city council in February, with local officials condemning the “nuisance” and “grim” atmosphere of the district at night.
“Residents of the old town suffer significantly from mass tourism and alcohol and drug abuse in the streets. Tourists also attract street dealers, which in turn cause crime and insecurity. The atmosphere can become particularly grim at night. People who are under the influence linger for extended periods, preventing residents from sleeping well and making the neighborhood unsafe and unlivable,” the city council said in a statement at the time.
“A smoking ban on the street should reduce nuisance. We are also considering a pick-up ban at certain times for soft drugs. If the nuisance does not decrease sufficiently, we will investigate whether we can ban smoking on terraces at coffee shops,” the council added.
CNN reported that if the outdoor smoking ban fails to achieve the desired results, the municipality would also consider banning take-out purchases of soft drugs at certain times and smoking marijuana at coffee shops’ outdoor seating areas.
“It is estimated that about 10% to 15% of Amsterdam’s tourist industry is based in the red light district,” according to CNN. City officials want the De Wallen neighborhood, as the district is known in Dutch, to attract visitors who can appreciate its unique heritage, architecture, and culture rather than sex and drugs. Over the past few years, there have been multiple initiatives to reduce the impact of mass tourism and nuisance visitors, and to revamp the area’s image.
In 2020, guided tours were prohibited from passing sex workers’ windows, and there were discussions about moving the window brothels to a neighborhood outside of the city center—conversations that continue to this day.
Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema has prioritized cleaning up the Red Light District since becoming mayor nearly five years ago.
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