Mellow Yellow, Amsterdam's oldest coffeeshop, forced to close

Amsterdam city council has decided to close all coffeeshops within 250 meters of a school on January 1, 2017. Among the victims of this directive is the oldest coffeeshop in Amsterdam: the «Mellow Yellow«.

The slow death of coffeeshops

The Mellow Yellow, Amsterdam's oldest coffeeshop, was due to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2017. A fatal anniversary, the party was canceled because the shop had to close its doors. Mayor Eberhard van der Laan, in agreement with the city council, wishes to close all coffeeshops within 250 meters of a school. With this measure, he hopes to dissuade young people from consuming cannabis. A last day of the year for 28 coffeeshops, which will have to close their doors on 1 January.^er January 2017.

The manager of the granddaddy of coffees, Johnny Petram, looks on dejectedly. «The Mellow Yellow is the first coffeeshop and now they want to close it ... I serve thousands of people a day. They come from all over the world, and here you can see Israelis and Palestinians smoking together. Even people who don't smoke come here. We're part of Amsterdam's history.»

However, Johnny Petram defends Mellow Yellow to the hilt. With the help of his lawyer, he tries to overturn the decision. In his defense, he points out that the nearest school is a hairdressing academy whose students are often over 18.

A directive that worries the players, since’one tourist in three visits at least one coffeeshop and that many of them come just for that. August De Loor, president of the coffeeshop union, even predicts «the death of coffeeshops within five to ten years». In his view, coffeeshops are an integral part of Amsterdam's warm and welcoming character. «It's our culture and what makes Amsterdam unique.

Cleaning up the Red Light District«

The decision to close the coffeeshops is part of a vast program to clean up Amsterdam's Red Light District. 22 coffeeshops have closed in this central artery of the capital in just a few years.

The mayor's spokesman explains: «If we don't close these coffeeshops, we'll have to apply the Weed Pass in Amsterdam. And we know from experience that applying the Weed Pass increases street traffic.» If the Weed Pass is implemented in Amsterdam, only Dutch people will be able to buy cannabis legally.

As a result of various restrictive policies, Amsterdam has lost more than half its coffeeshops in 20 years, dropping from 350 to fewer than 175 as of January 1, 2017. The mayor's spokesman continues: «We want to increase the quality of life in the city center. At present, the Quartier Rouge offers a huge number of coffee shops, sex shops and brothels, and we want to diversify the offerings to create a fair balance. We're definitely not targeting coffeeshops.

August de Loor is concerned about the reduction in the number of stores for another reason. The coffeeshops are running out of seats. «The coffeeshops have become weed supermarkets. Before, you'd sit down, have a taste and have a laugh. Now, you buy your weed and go (in the text). So there will be more and more smokers outside. »

There is, however, cause for hope for coffeshops: elections will be held in 2017. These elections will determine the new majority in the House of Representatives on March 15, 2017. At present, the opposition and some members of the majority are trying to legislate a total legalization of the Dutch cannabis chain.

Théo Caillart