A strictly monitored supply of soft drugs to coffeeshops, sold only to local customers, should help in controlling the use of soft drugs in the Netherlands, said the commission's report, published on Thursday.

The relaxed policy on cannabis and other soft drugs should be made much stricter, in order to limit negative side effects such as drugs tourism and organised crime.

Smaller coffeeshops
The easygoing policy on drugs and coffeeshops has grown over the past thirty years but, according to Wim van de Donk, who presided over the commission, the policy doesn’t work anymore. “It has gone too far,” the report said.

“We need to return to smaller coffeeshops that only serve local customers.” This would mean an end to drug tourism, where clients come from far afield to buy soft drugs.

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Negative effects
The report was commissioned by the Dutch government, after city councils in the south of the Netherlands expressed their growing doubts over the current relaxed drugs policy. Cities like Maastricht, Bergen op Zoom and Terneuzen—all close to the Belgian border—have endured the negative effects of heavy drugs tourism, attracting people from Belgium, France and Germany, where the sale of soft drugs is prohibited.