Smoke signal

Amsterdam's red light area bans cannabis

-  Senay Boztas

Thickfumes of cannabis smoke were noticeably absent from the air of Amsterdam's red light district, the familiar smell replaced by dank canal water and rats on the first day of a ban on smoking marijuana in public.

After years of complaints from residents about wild behaviour from visitors, who number 18 million a year, a crackdown on nuisance tourism is in full swing. Last month, the municipality introduced a "stay away" campaign-aimed first at misbehaving Britons - that banned alcohol sales in shops at the weekend and imposed earlier closing times for window brothels and pubs.

Now, tourists and residents alike face a €100 ($105) fine for public cannabis smoking in and around the red light district, to "reduce crowding and nuisance in the area".

For locals sick of rowdy stag nights, piles of rubbish and their doorsteps being used as lavatories, the ban within De Wallen - "the old city walls" - is a sign that their concerns are being taken seriously.