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Since 1999 Dutch local politicians have had the right to shut down shops even if there were no reports of trouble or disturbances and in Enschede alone the number of shops fell from 17 in 1999 to 9 in 2007. Christian Schultz reports.Smoking a "joint",
Dense smoke and a slightly sweet smell are in the air in the De Molen "coffee shop", home to a porcelain Buddha with a "joint" in its hand that sits in a corner next to the bar.
the Moby Dick, Hengelo.
Photo: Friso Gentsch.
The De Molen is not there to serve coffee, but drugs. In the Dutch city of Enschede, located only a few kilometres west of the German border, soft drugs such as hashish and marijuana are sold openly, attracting drug tourists mainly from Germany.
But the boundlessly liberal drug policy in the Netherlands is on the ropes, and many coffee shops have already had to close.
In Enschede, which counts about 155,000 residents, the number of shops fell from 17 in 1999 to 9 in 2007. The cities of Maastricht and Arnheim also reported decreases.
"Many Germans come to visit Enschede just because of our coffee shops - that is a fact," says Enschede city spokesman Michael Haase.
This becomes obvious when once takes a look at the location of these shops.
"Three hundred metres beyond the border crossing is the first coffee shop," says Franziskus Siegers, head of the drug counselling centre in the German border town of Gronau in the state of North Rhine Westphalia.
This situation however does not serve the interests of the town councils and the Dutch government.
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs has published a brochure complaining that shops located along the border that are visited by drug tourists "frequently" lead to trouble.
Haase also knows of cases where passers-by have been harassed in Enschede.
This is why the number of coffee shops had to be reduced. Since 1999 Dutch local politicians have had the right to shut down shops even if there were no reports of trouble or disturbances.
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