Erstellt am: 27. 4. 2012 - 16:50 Uhr

The Cannabis Cafes

How will the new legislation affect trade in the famous coffee shops across the Netherlands? A Reality Check explores the ban on selling to tourists.

In the Netherlands a judge has ruled that a new law banning foreign tourists from entering cannabis cafes is legal.

So effectively the coffee shop owners are banned from selling weed to foreign tourists in their cafes. Soft drugs are tolerated in the Netherlands but there is growing concern at tourists visiting just for drugs.

The proposal banning foreign tourists from buying weed had being challenged by coffee shop owners, who argued that it's discriminatory under Dutch and European law. The new law is in response to the large number of foreigners who come to the Netherlands only for cannabis and also to foreign dealers who buy drugs to sell back in their home countries. The ban has been strongly opposed by some café owners who see the law as ruining their businesses and diminishing the coffee shop culture. Holland has long been renowened for its tolerant attitudes towards recreational drug use, with generations of backpackers descending on Amsterdam for a spliff. John Cummins set his sights on the what's going on in the Netherlands.

Also on today's show.

The Transparency Package

Amid the on-going alleged corruption scandals, the SPÖ & ÖVP met behind closed doors today to finalize the so-called transparency package aimed at introducing new laws regulating the declaration of donations to political parties and individual politicians. Before the announcement of the deal, Joanna Bostock spoke to political commentator Thomas Hofer

The Barefoot Lawyer

One of China’s best known dissidents, Chen Guangcheng has escaped house arrest in China. Known as “the Barefoot Lawyer, Chen is a self-schooled legal advocate who campaigned against forced abortions. He has also been blind since childhood. Guardian journalist Jonathan Watts in Beijing has been following the situation:

Cybersecurity

The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act has been passed by the US House of Representatives. It would allow the government to access web user’s private data on suspicion of a cyber-threat. But what about cybersecurity more generally? What are the biggest threats to the US and what’s the best way to approach the issue? Richard Harknett, an expert from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio shares his views with Elizabeth Alcock:

Timbuktu

Mali’s cultural paradise has been a draw for poets, philosophers, back-packers and now Tuareg separatist rebels. But what’s the lowdown on the ancient city of Timbuktu shrouded in legend as one of the last places at the end of the earth? Chris Cummins talks to Rough Guide author Richard Trillo:

FM4 Reality Check

Monday to Friday from 12.00 to 14.00, and after the show via Podcast or fm4.orf.at/realitycheck.