Smoke signal

Amsterdam’s red light area bans cannabis

T‘We don’t want that image of sex and drugs any more’ Els Iping De Wallen resident

hick fumes of cannabis smoke were noticeably absent from the air of Amsterdam’s red light district, the familiar smell replaced by dank canal water and rats on the first day of a ban on smoking marijuana in public.

After years of complaints from residents about wild behaviour from visitors, who number 18 million a year, a crackdown on nuisance tourism is in full swing. Last month, the municipality introduced a “stay away” campaign – aimed first at misbehaving Britons – that banned alcohol sales in shops at the weekend and imposed earlier closing times for window brothels and pubs.

Now, tourists and residents alike face a €100 ($105) fine for public cannabis smoking in and around the red light district, to “reduce crowding and nuisance in the area”.

For locals sick of rowdy stag nights, piles of rubbish and their doorsteps being used as lavatories, the ban within De Wallen – “the old city walls” – is a sign that their concerns are being taken seriously.

The Amsterdam mayor, Femke Halsema, and all political parties agree that crowds of post-pandemic tourists have compromised livability while, at peak times, emergency vehicles cannot get down the narrow streets.

“Finally, smoking cannabis is banned in public spaces,” said Diederik Boomsma, a Christian Democratic Appeal councillor who has long campaigned for tourists to be banned from buying cannabis at all.

“This will send an important message to the gormless and feckless who think they can come here on a holiday from morality. Newsflash to all potheads: go giggle elsewhere! Let’s hope that the citizens of Amsterdam reclaim their ancient, beautiful city centre from the glassy-eyed zombies.”

Els Iping, a local resident, and the “Stop de Gekte” (stop the madness) group had got so sick of the nuisance that in recent months they had mounted vigilante “Wallen Watch” patrols on weekends, asking tourists to behave. “We don’t want that image of sex and drugs any more,” she said.

On the evening before the ban began, business owners were gathering worriedly, cursing resident activists and worrying that tourists would stop coming.

Jim Zielinski, a member of business group Biz Burgwallen, said some were angry. “The soul of the neighbourhood, what makes it so extraordinary, is slowly being pulled out,” he said. “It’s like a game of Jenga: each time they take a block away and at some point, the whole pile will collapse.”

He believes the answer is more policing of existing laws against public alcohol drinking and drug dealing. “The city simply cannot get a grip on safety, littering, the people who walk around the streets screaming and have no respect,” he said.

Some locals worry Amsterdammers are just as likely to be caught up in the fines, especially after long-running battles with the council over new Airbnb-style rental regulation. “The rules will be difficult for visitors to understand, because they might be able to smoke on the other side of the canal, or on a private terrace in the red light district,” said Maarten Bruinsma, chair of the Amsterdam Gastvrij, and a bed and breakfast owner.

The policy sparked contrarian instincts among others. One occasional joint smoker commented: “It almost makes one want to sit on one’s front step smoking cannabis in public.”