Cannabis cafes urge ‘stoner’ vote to dump weed pass law

OWNERS of the Netherlands’ free-wheeling coffee shops, where bags of hashish are sold alongside cups of espresso, are mounting a campaign to “get out the stoners” with slogans such as “don’t let your vote go up in smoke!” ahead of next week’s Dutch ­general elections.

They are calling on their notoriously apathetic cannabis-smoking clientele to support political parties that are opposed to the recently introduced “weed pass”, which is intended to rein in the drug-selling coffee shops and close them altogether to foreign tourists.

Under the new system, coffee shops become member-only clubs and only Dutch residents can apply for a pass to get in. The cafés are limited to a maximum of 2,000 members.

The online vote2smoke.nl campaign offers cannabis and marijuana users voting advice by showing which parties support dumping the “weed pass,” which came into force in southern Netherlands earlier this year and will be implemented countrywide in the next few years.

Joep Oomen, of the legalise cannabis movement, said it was hard to know exactly how big the pot-smoking constituency was, but he estimated around half a million people used the drug from a population of 16 million.

One champion of the smokers’ lobby is Socialist Party leader Emile Roemer, a 50-year-old former teacher whose party is expected to make significant gains in the 12 September ­election.

Speaking at a campaign event this weekend, Mr Roemer called the weed pass “incredibly stupid” and vowed to scrap it if he wins power.

He said the pass simply pushes drug dealers on to the streets and out of the controlled environment of the coffee shops – “so stop the wietpas,” he said, using its Dutch name.

Jerome Croonenberg, enjoying a joint at The Hut coffee shop in a side street close to the Dutch parliament building, said he would be voting for Mr Roemer because of his coffee-shop policy.

“I will vote to keep coffee shops open so I can keep smoking,” he said yesterday.

The centre-left Labour Party, which is surging in pre-election polls thanks to strong performances by its leader Diederik ­Samsom in televised debates, also advocates scrapping the pass and replacing it with ­legislation that would further enshrine tolerance of marijuana in Dutch law and regulate coffee shops and growers.

However, the coffee shops still have a fight on their hands – the conservative VVD party of outgoing prime minister Mark Rutte is topping the polls and looks set to become the biggest single party. It was a VVD-led coalition that introduced the weed pass.

If Mr Rutte ends up negotiating a centrist coalition, all parties would most likely be willing to bend or drop their position on the pass in favour of other policy goals.

Coffee shops have long been tolerated in the Netherlands because authorities believe they keep dope smokers away from street dealers of more dangerous and outlawed drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

The cafés have become tourist magnets in Amsterdam, but Mr Rutte’s government clamped down on them because they were held to blame for a rise in crime, traffic and parking problems in towns and cities close to the Dutch borders with Germany and Belgium.

In those places, authorities say that many of the clients are foreign drug-runners who drive in from neighbouring countries to stock up on marijuana.

The VVD’s election manifesto underscores its stance on the weed pass, and the support of other right-leaning parties who back the crackdown on cannabis.

Marc Josemans, who runs a coffee shop in the southern city of Maastricht and has long fought against the weed pass, says he is attempting to push smokers to the voting booths to support parties that reject the pass.

It can be tough work, he said in a telephone interview.

“We are trying to make clear to cannabis consumers all over Holland… that this year is your last chance to save your cannabis policy and your coffee shop,” Mr Josemans said. “And therefore it’s about time you get out of your lazy chairs on 12 September and vote for a cannabis-friendly party.”

Mr Josemans said the introduction of the pass system in May has driven dealing on to the streets, with “weed taxis “ now delivering door-to-door, with far less control by the authorities than in coffee shops.

“It is extremely doubtful if the coffee shop can survive,” if the policy is upheld, he said.