BRUSSELS, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Holland will be allowed to keep its "coffee" shops, where marijuana is openly sold and smoked, under a new European Union drugs control law.
Justice ministers from the 15 EU member states agreed Thursday to harmonize their national drug laws, and drug traffickers across Europe will face 1-3 years in prison for producing or distributing drugs, including cannabis, coca and opium plants. But individual countries are allowed to set their own national rules on personal consumption of drugs, providing a loophole for Holland's famed "coffee" cafes.
But only Dutch residents with identity cards will be allowed to use the cannabis cafes.
Dutch justice minister Piet Hein Donner said his government would restrict coffee shop owners from selling soft drugs to non-residents, in order to combat drug tourists.
