Across the border
Taking drugs across the border is always a criminal offence, even a small quantity for personal use. Anyone who takes drugs across the border risks a fine abroad, or even a prison sentence. The penalties abroad are often severe.
Who makes the rules
The rules come from three sides. The Opium Act applies throughout the Netherlands and the Public Prosecution Service sets the tolerance criteria. The municipality can add its own rules, for example in the APV, the General Local By-law.
Extra requirements from the municipality
To prevent nuisance, a municipality can set extra requirements for a coffeeshop, such as adjusted opening hours or more distance from schools. The national rules simply continue to apply alongside them.
The Haarlem quality mark
In 2013 Haarlem was the first municipality in the Netherlands to introduce a quality mark for coffeeshops. The municipality worked on it together with coffeeshop owners, the GGD Kennemerland health service and organisations for health education and safety. A coffeeshop with the quality mark had to meet extra requirements on top of the national tolerance rules, such as an airlock at the entrance for checking age and ID, visible house rules and health information with helpline numbers on the premises. The staff took courses, including one on recognising fake ID.
In the street and at the door
Nuisance includes noise, litter, parking problems and people loitering at the door. A coffeeshop must prevent that: that is the O in the Dutch abbreviation of the tolerance criteria. In Haarlem the mayor can also designate areas where use in the street is prohibited, under Article 2:74a of the Haarlem APV.
No advertising, not even online
A coffeeshop is not allowed to advertise, not even online. Only a short indication on the building itself is allowed. That is why this website says nothing about what is sold, only about the shop, the rules and health education.
Sources
You have read this chapter.
Finished reading?
The facts from the Remember boxes come back in lesson 3. Every question you get right first time earns 10 XP.