"We are developing a system whereby people not registered in the Netherlands will not be allowed into coffee shops," said Justice Ministry spokesman Ivo Hommes. "We want to do this to combat drugs tourism and should be able to start the project this summer."

The city of Maastricht, which borders Germany and Belgium, attracts an estimated 1.5 million drug tourists, according to Mayor Gerd Leers; the city would be the site of a test program for the new policy. The Netherlands has been under great pressure from neighboring countries to combat drug tourism, and the number of coffee shops has fallen from 1,200 to 754 in just six years.

Leers cast doubt on the effectiveness of cracking down harshly on drug use. "As a member of parliament in The Hague, I thought it was possible to get rid of cannabis by taking hard measures. But after having been mayor of Maastricht for three years I see that it does not work," he said. "It's a waterbed effect; if you push down on one part, the problems pop up somewhere else."

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