BRUSSELS, July 15 (Reuters) - A Dutch town moved closer on Thursday to winning the right to ban sales of cannabis to foreigners in a court case that is likely to determine the future of drug tourism in the Netherlands.
The case was brought by the owner of the Easy Going coffee shop in Maastricht who wants to overturn the municipality’s decision to stop foreigners buying drugs in the town’s cafes.
He brought the case before a local court, which asked the European Court of Justice for a ruling on the issue.
A top lawyer known as the advocate-general said in an opinion for the Court of Justice that Maastricht had the right to refuse foreigners entry to its "coffee shops", where soft drugs such as marijuana can be bought.
"That measure is necessary to maintain public order in the face of troubles caused by drug tourism and contributes to combating the illicit trade in narcotics in the EU," the advocate-general said in a statement.
The Luxembourg-based court follows the opinions of its advocates-general in the majority of cases. The court’s final ruling is expected in the next few weeks or months.
A ban on sales to foreigners in Maastricht, close to the Belgian and German borders and not far from France, could encourage other cities to follow its example. Public opinion and the government are increasingly hostile to the drug sales.
The Netherlands is the only European country where soft drug sales are tolerated. Possession of soft drugs for personal use has been decriminalised, and their sale, though prohibited by law, is tolerated in the coffee shops.
Towns such as Maastricht have become favourite destinations for drug users — occasional and addicted — and 70 percent of sales, worth some 10 million euros a year, are made to foreigners in the town’s 13 coffee shops.
The owner of the Easy Going coffee shop based his case on the view that the ban violated the principles of the EU’s single market.
But the advocate-general argued that narcotics are not like other goods and that their sale does not benefit from the freedom of movement guaranteed by EU law.
"The measure adopted by the municipality of Maastricht does not fall within the scope of the freedom to provide services," the advocate-general said.
