According to a new report, there is a substantial decrease in the number of coffee shops in the Netherlands. At the end of 2009 there were 666 coffee shops, compared to 702 in 2007.

In Rotterdam 16 coffee shops were closed down because they were situated too close to schools, and in Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom eight coffee shops were closed as a result of a zero policy.

Other coffee shops have been forced to close down because they did not adhere to the rules put in place by local governments.

Half of the coffee shops, 53 percent, are located in six cities with more than 200 000 inhabitants. Most of those cities are found in the Western parts of the country, in the so-called “Randstad”-area.

Slightly more than 75 per cent of the 100 cities with one or more coffee shops have a local rule saying that a coffee shop is not allowed to operate within a distance of 250 meters from a school. If such a rule would be applied all over the country 94 per cent of the coffee shops would run the risk of having to close down. The new government is planning to introduce a new rule regarding distances to schools – 350 meters.

Nowadays coffee shops appear to comply with the guidelines. In 2009 44 coffee shops violated the guidelines compared to 88 in 2007.

If you read Dutch the full report, Coffeeshops in Nederland 2009, is available here.

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