Amsterdam will close almost a fifth of its Marijuana cafes to comply with a national ban on having them near schools, the mayor said Friday.
Another city, Eindhoven, said it would start issuing permits to marijuana growers in order to better regulate the trade — if the national government approves.
The plans were announced as 33 major Dutch cities held a “weed summit” to discuss the nation’s long-standing policy of tolerating marijuana use while routinely arresting growers.
Marijuana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but can be sold in small amounts in designated cafes — euphemistically known as “coffee shops” — without fear of prosecution. More than a quarter of the country’s cafes are in Amsterdam, where they are a major tourist attraction.
But Mayor Job Cohen said the city would close about 20 percent of its cafes.
Those included some landmarks, such as The Bulldog — a high-traffic shop operating since 1985 in a former police station on one of the city’s main squares.
Letters have been sent to 43 shops within 250 meters (yards) of a high school informing them they will have to close by the end of 2011 if they cannot successfully appeal the decision, Amsterdam spokeswoman Iris Reshef said. Though she added that the city did not have any major problems with the cafes.
