At last that should 'WEED' them out.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.independen...-caf-ban-7684493.html

Surely that is racism isn't it?

[emmie]

why racism, am i missing something, besides walk down almost any street here, and you will whiff that rather sickly smell of cannabis wafting around.
Most don't hide it, and the coppers don't seem to notice, or if they do, they don't do anything.

[Zeuhl]

Are you confusing restriction by nationality with selection by race Old Git?

Lots of things are restriced ny nationality; right to vote, hold a passport etc

But shouldn't any citizen of the European Union be entitled to purchase these goods?

[anotheoldgit]

Just goes to show how overused this word has become, I am also getting its true meaning mixed up.

If one once said "keep the 'foreigners out", one was once branded a racist on this site.

[Zeuhl]

Did you call them 'Johnny Foreigner' Old Git?

:-)

I still can't see how this doesn't break EU rules. If it can be sold to Dutch nationals it should be sold to other EU citizens.
And possession of small amounts of weed can't be decriminalised for Dutch nationals and not for foreigners.

so i'm confused already and i haven't had a spliff yet

[daffy654]

It will severely damage the tourist trade over there. Most people I know who have been there only went for the cannabis cafes.

[Traci66]

They have been saying for years that this was going to happen, we first went ten years ago and it was rumoured then.

[HowardKennitby]

seems to me it will just create a market for locals to buy and sell on to tourists.

[ummmm]

I presume they've judged it on the smoking ban. It might not have effected tourism as much as expected.

Amsterdam is beautiful. It's a pity some people go there just to get stoned or look at the girls in the windows.

[Gromit]

It is already illegal in Holland so clamping down on foreign tourists breaking the law seems reasonable.

The Cafes have been there illegally for forty years, so I cannot really see what has changed?

[ummmm]

It might be illegal but it's not policed.

When I went they were openly selling drugs. Coke, E's, mushrooms...on the streets.

[LazyGun]

How is such a decision racist? Race does not even begin to come into it. Nationalist maybe, Protectionist even, but not racism.

Given their membership of the EU and the free trade arrangements throughout the EU however, I would have thought this decision to be in breach of EU legislation....

[Johnysid]

Zeuhl raises an interesting point. What is racism? According to the CPS:

"A racial group means a group of persons defined by reference to race, colour, nationality (including citizenship) or ethnic or national origins. The definition is wide and victims may come within the definition under more than one of the references. Gypsies and some travellers, refugees or asylum seekers or others from less visible minorities would be included within this definition. There has been a legal ruling that Jews and Sikhs are included in the definition of a racial group [Mandla v. Dowell-Lee [1983] 2 AC 548].

A religious group means a group of persons defined by reference to religious belief or lack of religious belief. This includes Muslims, Hindus and Christians, and different sects within a religion. It also includes people who do not hold any religious beliefs at all."

If you still feel it is a racist incident not covered by the above:

"A racist incident is any incident which is perceived to be racist by the victim or any other person".

See http://www.cps.gov.uk...on/rrpbcrpol.html#a05

If you cannot invoke racism almost the same laws apply to religious incidents.