mayors by NRC Handelsblad at the time of the wiettop (with a 60% response) 80% of the mayors were in favour of regulating the backdoor (i.e. making it legal). However, only 18% were in favour of making the market for soft drugs completely free. 22% were in favour of reducing the number of coffeeshops and 10% want to close them all. Strikingly, this has little to do with the view of their political party, from which NRC Handelsblad concludes it is based on practical considerations, rather than ideological. Required distance from schools[edit] In 2008, the Dutch government decided that coffeeshops would no longer be allowed within a radius of 250 m of schools. In Amsterdam, this means the closing of 43 more coffeeshops (in preceding years the number had already been reduced from 350 to 228). Mayor Job Cohen had preferred no change but complied reluctantly. He pointed out that coffeeshops are already not allowed to sell to customers aged under 18, so the policy would not have much effect. Toward the end of 2013, Amsterdam mayor Eberhard van der Laan said that in 2014, some of the coffeeshops near schools will be forced to close. There was some discussion on whether they will have to completely close or only during school hours, being able to conduct business after 18:00 and on weekends, should this become law.[4] Drug tourism[edit] Each municipality has a coffeeshop policy. Some do not allow any; most of these municipalities are either controlled by strict Protestant parties, or are bordering Belgium and Germany and do not wish to receive drug tourism from those countries. A 19 March 2005 article in the Observer noted that the number of Dutch cannabis coffeeshops had dropped from 1,500 to 750 over the previous five years, largely due to pressure from the conservative coalition government. The no-growth policies of many Dutch cities affect new licensing. This policy slowly reduces the number of coffeeshops, since no one can open a new one after a closure. Mos
