Residents criterion
From the Josémans ruling until today — where the residents criterion still applies and what its effects are.
The residents criterion (I-criterion) follows from the Opium Act Directive and means that coffeeshops may only sell to residents of the Netherlands. Its legal foundation was laid in the Josémans ruling (2010), in which the Court of Justice of the EU held that combating drug tourism is a legitimate ground for excluding non-residents.
This dossier describes its introduction — first as a pilot in the south, later as a nationwide rule — and shows that enforcement varies sharply between municipalities. In much of the Netherlands the I-criterion is effectively a paper rule; in a limited number of municipalities it is actively enforced.
Research into its effects gives a mixed picture: fewer visitors in enforcing cities, but also a shift toward street dealing and surrounding municipalities. A uniform national rule does more harm than good here — local tailoring fits the reality on the ground better.