--- description: Mayor Eberhard van der Laan reportedly plans to close 26 of the 76 existing weed shops in the Red Light District, where he has already shut down almost half of the neighborhood's brothels, because he believes they promote more crime title: Court: Amsterdam Mayor Can Ban Red Light District Pot Shops image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Court: Amsterdam Mayor Can Ban Red Light District Pot Shops by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 23, 2014 8:00 PM CUT by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 23, 2014 8:00 PM CUT The mayor of Amsterdam has received court approval to ban weed shops in the city. Mayor Eberhard van der Laan believes the shops and brothels promote criminal activity, the _Associated Press_ [reports](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/amsterdam-ban-pot-shops-red-light-district-23441400 "undefined"). The mayor has reportedly closed almost half of the brothels in the notoriously debaucherous Red Light District, though prostitution remains legal in the Netherlands. The “coffee shops” that sell marijuana openly may be next. The ruling published on Wednesday says that the mayor “has the freedom to carry out policies he considers desirable to protect public order.” In several cities in the Netherlands, foreigners have been banned from purchasing marijuana as a part of a national law that requires [residential status](http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/benelux/120501/dutch-cannabis-coffee-shops-begin-closing-doors-tourists "undefined") in order to buy weed. Eberhard van der Laan has not imposed that particular law on Amsterdam, because of the potential impact on tourism. However, the mayor reportedly plans to close 26 of the 76 existing pot peddling coffee shops. \[[AP](http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/amsterdam-ban-pot-shops-red-light-district-23441400 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/74217/court-amsterdam-mayor-can-ban-red-light-district-pot-shops/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/74217/court-amsterdam-mayor-can-ban-red-light-district-pot-shops/"},"headline":"Court: Amsterdam Mayor Can Ban Red Light District Pot Shops","datePublished":"2014-04-23T20:00:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:27:47.882Z","description":"Mayor Eberhard van der Laan reportedly plans to close 26 of the 76 existing weed shops in the Red Light District, where he has already shut down almost half of the neighborhood's brothels, because he believes they promote more crime","url":"https://time.com/74217/court-amsterdam-mayor-can-ban-red-light-district-pot-shops/","keywords":["Marijuana","The Netherlands","Netherlands","amsterdam"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/74217/court-amsterdam-mayor-can-ban-red-light-district-pot-shops/","name":"Court: Amsterdam Mayor Can Ban Red Light District Pot Shops"}}]}] ```