Starting September 2007, coffeeshops in the City of Mastricht will start fingerprinting, photographing and copying their customers ID cards. This is due to a new law requiring each customer be identified and the amount of cannabis purchased recorded.
Since 2002, police have strictly enforced the existing laws, and shops found in violation are automatically closed for a minimum of three months for a single infraction, six months for a second offense, and permanently for a third. Now only 15 of Maastricht’s 26 licensed shops remain open, and more are likely to close as a result of these new laws.
Despite efforts to fight this new law, the remaining coffeeshops in Mastricht are going to comply with the new rules. Other Dutch border towns and the city of Rotterdam are also considering implementing these new rules for coffeeshops.
No doubt this will have a chilling effect upon the cannabis trade in Holland.