Amsterdam is cracking down on shops selling drug-related souvenirs, especially in the city center as it tries to move away from its druggy anything-goes image—even though most of the souvenirs are fakes with no actual drugs.
One city official even suggested that the vendors could be prosecuted for consumer fraud because of the lack of drugs.
An ordinance passed by the City Council last year bans the sale of cannabis or ‘magic-mushroom’ related souvenirs as part of the city’s attempt to make itself more attractive to locals, shoppers and companies. Sales of actual drugs were already banned, but tolerated in special ‘coffee shops,’ which also face new regulations.
The city has also added regulations over the last few years limiting the number and location of souvenir shops, trying to keep the city center as a normal commercial and residential district. Partly because of those limits, the souvenir displays have started showing up in min-supermarkets and wafel shops, and the city has now warned that this could lead to big fines and seizure of goods.
