The Dutch are planning to stop tourists from buying and smoking cannabis in Amsterdam and other cities.
The famous coffee shops, where small amounts of cannabis have been legally bought and smoked since 1976, have become a major industry and a popular attraction for many visitors. Turnover is estimated to be in the region of £1.6 billion ($2.7 billion) per year.
But the Dutch government wants to stop ‘drug tourism’ and is planning a system under which licensed coffee shops would have to introduce a members-only pass. This would prevent non-locals from buying the drugs.
In July, a government commission declared: “Coffee shops should again become what they were originally meant to be: vending points for local users and not large-scale suppliers to consumers from neighbouring countries. The situation has got out of hand.”
But Raymond Dufour of the Netherlands Drug Policy Foundation says there could be a challenge to the ban in the courts. “We have a problem with European law here, as all European citizens should be treated equally,” he said.
He said there was also the danger that the trade would be driven underground as in many other cities.
by Andy Moreton
Luxique has a first rate selection of luxury hotels in Amsterdam and many other Dutch cities.
Figures released last week give an indication of the extent of the problem of lost airline luggage.
A total of 42 million bags worldwide were ‘mishandled’ in 2007 and, of those, more than a million were never found.
The consumer watchdog, the Air Transport Users’ Council, said that an additional irritation was that passengers were being short-changed when they sought compensation. At times, they were being offered as little as 10 per cent of the value of the lost items.
The situation has prompted the European Union to take action. A statement said the EU’s Transport Commissioner, Antonio Tajani, had decided ‘to take immediate measures on passengers’ rights, starting with an investigation on the scale of the phenomenon.’
It’s possible that the result of that investigation could be a body which would order airlines to pay compensation to travellers whose baggage fails to arrive. European law already means airlines must compensate passengers whose flights have been cancelled or significantly delayed.
by Andy Moreton
A judgement in the European Court of Justice has opened the way for airline passengers to receive compensation when a flight is cancelled because of a technical fault.
The Court said airlines had to pay up unless the fault was due to exceptional circumstances such as terrorism, sabotage or a hidden manufacturing defect that suddenly came to light. Its ruling is binding on members of the European Union.
The test case centred on an Austrian family whose Alitalia flight from Vienna to Brindisi via Rome was cancelled five minutes before it was scheduled to take off. The airline refused to pay 250 Euros (£235 / $350) in compensation or 10 Euros for a phone call, blaming the cancellation on ‘extraordinary circumstances.’
But the judges decided that the airline’s definition of those circumstances – a complex engine defect in the turbine – did not excuse it of its obligation to compensate passengers.
Hendrik Noorderhaven, of Euclaim, which helps travellers fight for compensation, said: “It’s a huge victory for passengers. It will be even more difficult for the airlines to hide behind the excuses they use not to pay compensation.
“It will also cost airlines tens of millions, as the estimated value of unclaimed compensation for delayed flights in Europe is £545million a year.”
by Andy Moreton
