DUTCH TELL DRUG TOURISTS TO TAKE TRIP TO BELGIUM

To most of the outside world, it is known as the dull Dutch market
town where the treaty that created the European Union was signed in
1992. Small wonder then, that the bulk of Maastricht's foreign
visitors come not for the history, but for the abundance of
Amsterdam-style "coffee shops" selling marijuana.

Now, however, fed up at the growing numbers of drug tourists,
Maastricht plans to move up to half of the offending cafes to the
Belgian border - a scheme that has tested the spirit of European
integration to its limit.

For the town's mayor, Gerd Leers, the move will simply relocate the
cafes safely out of Maastricht and closer to their main market, which
locals say is overwhelmingly young Belgians anyway.

But officials in Belgium, where cannabis remains illegal, say the
plan will completely derail their own zero-tolerance policy on drugs.
Because both countries are signatories to the EU's Schengen free
movement agreement, the national boundary exists nowadays only on
maps, which means that Belgian towns such as Lanaken, right on the
border, may end up looking as if they have their own coffee shop.

"I have a good understanding with Mayor Leers, except when it comes
to soft drugs," Lanaken's mayor, Alex Vangronsveld, complained last
week. "We in Lanaken maintain a zero-tolerance policy. The dispersal
plan is not acceptable to us, as Maastricht already has 4,500 drug
tourists a day."

Dutch police, however, back Mr Leers. By moving some of Maastricht's
16 coffee shops to within a few yards of Belgium, they hope to export
not just the cannabis trade but also its undesired sidekick, illegal
hard drugs.

"Their fears are legitimate," said Peter Tans, the police spokesman
for south Limburg, the Dutch region that includes Maastricht.
"Experience has shown that when you move the coffee shop the problem
moves, too, and crime levels where the coffee shop used to be drop
dramatically. But we say to the Belgians: 'These are your customers,
keep them in your country'."

Dutch MPs visited the Belgian border region last week to hear local
concerns. They were told that Dutch soft drug cultivators were
increasingly targeting hard-up Belgian farmers, in areas near the
border, and offering them cash in exchange for use of part of their
land. Maastricht officials say the relocation scheme will be
voluntary but believe many coffee shop owners would be happier closer
to the border.

A date for the move has not been set and some coffee shop managers
believe the plan might never be activated. A previous project by Mr
Leers to ban non-Dutch residents from frequenting the coffee shops
has not been put in motion.

"There are elections next year, so maybe the policy will change
again," said the manager of the Easy Going coffee shop, who refused
to give her name.

A drug dealer in Club 69, a smart coffee shop near Maastricht's main
market square, added: "You'll find they will move the coffee shops in
residential areas where there are children running about and leave
those in the town centre."