HOCHSCHULE BREMEN

DIAGNOSIS OF THE TOURISM INDUSTRY AFTER THE POSSIBLE LEGALIZATION OF

RECREATIONAL CANNABIS IN GERMANY

AUTHOR: David Bahamon Mossos

MBA MASTER IN TOURISM MANAGEMENT

BREMEN, GERMANY

2022
TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2

LIST OF FIGURES 2

1. INTRODUCTION 3
2. DIAGNOSIS 5
3. PROBLEM STATEMENT 5
4. OBJECTIVES 6
4.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVE 6
4.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES 6

5. RESEARCH QUESTIONS 6
6. METHODOLOGY. 7
7. BACKGROUND 7
7.1 THE WAR ON DRUGS. 7
7.2 WHAT ARE DRUGS? 9
7.3 RISKS OF TAKING DRUGS AND ITS REGULATIONS. 9
7.4 DRUGS AND TOURISM 11
7.5 RISKS INVOLVED WITH DRUGS AND TOURISM 12
7.6 REGULATION OF CANNABIS: Colorado, U.S.A 13
7.7 REGULATION OF CANNABIS: Amsterdam, the Netherlands 14
7.8 CANNABIS ATTRACTIONS 15

8. CONCLUSIONS 16
8.1 REFLECTIONS 18

9. TERMINOLOGY 18

LIST OF FIGURES

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 1.INTRODUCTION
Drugs are a problem worldwide,these substances are widely available in most parts of the
world. Governments use prohibition as a way to mitigate the risks that these substances
produce to the users and the society.

The prohibition strategy that began in the united states of america with the so called war on
drugs have not been able to meet its objectives, it has created a lot of problems because to
be able to impose the prohibition huge economic expenses are paid by the taxpayers every
year, as well as a huge amount of stress on the public institutions that have to deal with all
the damage generated by the prohibition of this substances, the idea that making substances
illegal would stop the retail and consumption of them seems to not give the intended results
on the contrary the great profits that the legal status of these substances create incentives
for people to start in this business and for using violence and corruption in all institutions
worldwide to keep the operations running. (Conye & Hall, 2017, #4)

Not all drugs are the same and not all should be regulated the same way, still it is important
to remark that drugs are harmful for mental and physical health for the consumers, can cause
dependancy and affect the society itself. There are certain substances such as Heroin and
Methamphetamines that cause tremendous harm to the user health, have a high chance of
generating dependency, and affects society in a negative way, nevertheless, other drugs
specifically alcohol and tobacco, also generate negative effects on the users health, have a
high chance generating dependency and affects society in a negative way, but the difference
is that this are legal in most countries worldwide, having strict regulations and quality control,
the industry and the businesses have to pay taxes. (Conye & Hall, 2017, #1-2). By the same
token, cannabis is an illegal substance in most countries worldwide but research has shown
that this substance in particular is less harmful for the user and the society than tobacco and
alcohol. this research has been taken by consideration of several countries worldwide and by
the year 2021, countries like Canada, Uruguay, and some states of the U.S have legalized
cannabis for recreational purposes. (Nutt et al., 2010, #1561)

Germany is facing a great opportunity that might open the doors for an immense grow among
several industries, as well as a better well being of the society, in 2021 a new coalition took
power under the governance of the new chancellor Olaf Scholz, The parties in the new
coalition have agreed to legalize the sale of cannabis as long as it is sold in licensed
establishments that can tax it properly and ensure both quality control and that it is sold only
to adults. This is a great shift in the current policy of prohibition that reigns in Germany at the

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moment. If Germany does legalize recreational marijuana, it will become the first major
European country to do so, and the role that Germany has in the European Union might
generate a snowball effect in the rest of the countries towards a regulation of this and other
substances, this will undoubtedly open a significant market for legal cannabis growers and
dealers. (Other European countries like the Netherlands have decriminalized the drug, but
producing, buying and selling remains legal only in medical contexts.) Under current German
law it’s not illegal to consume cannabis but it is to buy it. (Schuetze, 2021).

In places where the recreational consumption of cannabis has become legal, several
industries have received benefits around it and others have been born because of it, in
industries such as production, retail, accessories and tourism. there is a niche in the tourism
sector that its poorly developed and mostimes overlooked, the “drug tourism”, under this
category we find tourists that travel to a destination to use mind altering substances, this
tourists often times see the use of this substances as part of the charm of a destination but
not necessarily the reason to visit a destination itself. They might travel looking for a spiritual
experience, an escape to the normal situations that they face back home or simply to use a
substance that might not be available or legal in their homeland (Ferreira & de Paula, 2016
#191). For example, German tourists report that they buy cannabis for daily use in the
Netherlands and return to Germany the same day or a day later. (Belhassen et al., 2007,
#314). It is important to take notice of the historical point of view, right now cannabis
consumption is prohibited in most countries worldwide this means that those locations that
offer a safe and legal way to consume Cannabis will have a competitive advantage to others
destinations that don't, Cannabis consumption is becoming a common activity among various
groups and it is related to some entertainment activities, or simply to social trends regarding
cannabis (Belhassen et al., 2007, #304). A good example of a destination getting visited by
tourist looking to consume cannabis would be Amsterdam, some tourist even describe
amsterdam as the capital city of cannabis users, (Belhassen et al., 2007, #313) every year
hundreds of tourists decide to visit amsterdam to experience one of the main attractions of
this destination, legal, safe and regulated cannabis usage.

The question arises, if the legalization of cannabis in Germany becomes a reality, will it have
a positive or a negative impact on the tourism industry?

2.DIAGNOSIS
Drug tourism (or narco tourism) was initiated in the second half of 1960s by the Americans
and Europeans belonging to the counterculture movements. This term refers to a travel
aiming on legal acquisition and consumption of psychoactive substances, or a travel in which

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the objective is to use drugs. Although psychoactive substances have been known for
centuries, more and more areas are being successively discovered, to where people
searching for drug experience go. The most popular sites include the countries of Southeast
Asia, South America and some European countries. (Hoffman, 2014, #456). In Europe each
year, Amsterdam is visited by about 1.5 million of drug tourists (representing one third of all
tourists visiting the city) mainly from Germany, Belgium and France (Hoffman, 2014, #456),
this is because of the tolerance that the Netherlands have over cannabis consumption. Yet
drug tourism is seen as something to be avoided and companies and govermnets dont take
advantage of the potential that this industry might represent.

3.PROBLEM STATEMENT
Drugs have been a taboo for several years, since the beginning of the war on drugs there
have been restrictions on the consumption, selling and processing of certain substances. The
purpose of the prohibition was to mitigate the damage that these substances produce to
human beings, but in reality the prohibition has made the drug business extremely profitable,
and it has given a lot of money and power to people that rely on violence to keep the
business going.

The U.S.A classified into five distinct categories or schedules to determine which substances
had the most dependence potential, in here Schedule I drugs have a high potential for abuse
and the potential to create severe psychological and/or physical dependence. As the drug
schedule changes Schedule II, Schedule III, etc., so does the abuse potential Schedule V
drugs represent the least potential for abuse. (DEA, 2021). According to several research it
has been proved that drugs that are in Schedule I, such as Cannabis have a fewer potential
for psychological and/or physical dependence than schedule II drugs like methamphetamine
(Nutt et al., 2010, #1561), it seems that the Schedule sistem that the Drug Enforcement
Administration is not aligned with the scientific research that has been made in the past
several years and this disparity generates confusion amongst population towards the
consumption of this substances, one one side the authorities say that this substances are
dangerous, but the scientific research says that they are not really, so. this means that a
change in the jurisdiction and classification of this substances must be made in order to give
the general public rules that align with reality. and in places like Canada, Uruguay, and even
some states in the U.S.A. there has been corrections towards the usage of Cannabis, which
is a widely used substance that appears to generate fewer negative effects that other drugs
that are available in the market such as Tobacco or Alcohol.

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Another really important reason for the legalization of this substance is the economical
benefits for the areas that abolish this restrictions, not only by the increased tax revenue from
the sales of this substances but also because of the diminishing stress that legalization
implies for public institutions, such as jails, public law enforcement agencies, amongst others,
and also because of the jobs and business opportunities that this represents for several
industries.

4.OBJECTIVES

4.1 GENERAL OBJECTIVE

● Do a bibliographical investigation about the status of recreational cannabis usage in
countries where its consumption has already been legalized, in order to be able to
generate an informed prediction about the future of the tourism industry in Germany
in the hypothetical case that recreational cannabis was legalized in this country.

4.2 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

● Explain the current restrictions that the consumption of recreational cannabis faces in
germany.
● analyze the perception of the stakeholders involved in the industry
● Generate a conclusion explaining what might be the positive and negative effects of
the legalization of recreational Cannabis if it becomes a reality in Germany, with a
deep focus on the tourism industry

5.RESEARCH QUESTIONS
● In case the legalization of recreational Cannabis becomes a reality in Germany, is it
going to generate a positive or negative effect in the tourism industry?
● Do the actual restrictions on drugs generate their intended purpose?
● Are the consequences of the drug restrictions positive or negative?
● Who are the Stakeholders in the tourism industry that are going to be affected if
Cannabis consumption becomes legal?
● How is the perception of stakeholders of the legal cannabis industry in countries
where it already is legal?
● Will the legalization of recreational cannabis consumption in Germany have a positive
or a negative effect on the Stakeholders.
● Is the demand for tourism in places where regulated recreational cannabis
consumption better or worse than before this substance was regulated?

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 ● Are there new market niches in the tourism industry that will be born after the
legalization of recreational cannabis consumption?

6. METHODOLOGY.
The problem that was investigated in this paper is the introduction of cannabis into the legal
market in Germany, this is a substance that by the year 2022 is illegal in most parts of the
world and its introduction to the mainstream market will without a doubt create an impact on
the society and the economy of germany. It is of great importance to do an analysis of the
possible positive and negative effects that this will generate, the research is dedicated
towards countries that already have legalized the consumption of recreational cannabis,
countries like the U.S.A (in certain states), Canada, Netherlands*. etc. it's important to take
into consideration that it is yet unknown the exact strategies, laws and restrictions that will be
imposed in germany or even if the legalization of the consumption of recreational marihuana
will take place. This paper focuses on the tourism industry and the effects and changes that
this industry might face in case that legalization takes place. An extensive bibliographic
research was made with third party data, this method will be used to cover the large array of
phenomena that this problem implies. The aim is to address a theoretical problem, to do this
research of real data and case studies from reliable sources was gathered, these resources
were the most recent available.

7.BACKGROUND

7.1 THE WAR ON DRUGS.

Drugs and its consumption has been a taboo for several years, this was in part because of a
series of policies that were called “war on drugs”, In the early 1970s, the president Richard
Nixon declared it in the United States. As a result, local authorities, the federal government,
and even the U.S. military expanded their efforts to combat the so-called illicit drugs. (Conye
& Hall, 2017, #2). This has generated great stress in the law enforcement institutions and the
United states penitentiary system, In 1980, for example, 580,900 people were arrested on
drug-related charges in the United States. By 2014, that number had increased to 1,561,231.
More than 700,000 of these arrests in 2014 were related to marijuana. In fact, nearly half of
the 186,000 people serving time in federal prisons in the United States are incarcerated on
drug-related charges. (Conye & Hall, 2017, #2). the cost of this policies are unmeasurable, in
the economic standpoint, the cost of opportunity that all the money that has been expended,

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but also in the sociological point of view, many people see the trade of drugs as a way to
earn money and even make a living, being fully aware of the consequences.

The war on drugs has meant the spending of a great amount of human, economical and
political resources every year. “Nearly half of the 186,000 people serving time in federal
prisons in the United States are incarcerated on drug related charges.” and the government
has spent more than $1 trillion on interdiction policies. Spending on the war continues to cost
U.S. taxpayers more than $51 billion annually. (Conye & Hall, 2017, #2). Several decades
have passed since the beginning of the “war on drugs”, which meant that policies of
prohibition were applied to certain substances to achieve a variety of objectives, Proponents
of drug prohibition claim that such policies reduce drug-related crime, and reduce diseases
and overdoses, also they proclaim that prohibition is an effective mean of disrupting and
dismantling organized criminal organizations. (Conye & Hall, 2017, #1). But in reality these
prohibitions have made the matter even worse, because making markets illegal fails to
reduce, much less eliminate, the market for drugs. Instead, these mandates mainly push the
market for drugs into underground black markets, making them really lucrative and attractive
for a lot of people that view them as a lifestyle. Several people are willing to take the risk to
go to prison or even to die to get the profits that drugs generate, it becomes a lifestyle for
some, something even fashionable this is even encouraged by the culture, in several movies
and tv series the drug dealer is the protagonist or antagonist, the one who gets the most
attention, movies like Scarface show the luxuries and violence driven life of a drug dealer, but
the depicture of this kind of movies makes a drug dealer life something interesting, even
desirable.

In addition, prohibition acts as a “tax” on sellers in the drug market. Would be and current
drug vendors must now incorporate fines, possible prison time, and the cost of evading
capture into their business models (Conye & Hall, 2017, #4). Another great issue is the fact
that all the money that this profitable business generates gets into the hands of illegal
organizations and criminals, also the drugs that people consume don't have quality control
mechanisms which make them a risk for the consumer. (Conye & Hall, 2017, #4).

Another area in which the war on drugs fails to meet its goal is in reducing violence, when
drugs are illegal, the users cannot use formal legal channels to solve conflict or seek
legitimate protection for their business and trade. Because of the illegal status buyers or
sellers will not turn to the police or other legal mechanisms. Instead, individuals must solve
problems by their own hands, which often means the use of violence to solve issues as
opposed to more peaceful means of dispute resolution. A good example of this is the wars of
Drug cartels along Latin America that have used violent means to manage the business of

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drugs. This means that by gaining a reputation for using violence, those involved in the drug
trade may exert more effective control over the market. (Conye & Hall, 2017, #5). Lastly, a
big problem caused by the so-called war on drugs is the corruption of public officials and civil
servants. The illegal nature of the market, the need to avoid facing the authorities, and
potentially extremely high profit margins create a strong motivation for the people that get
involved in the drug trade to avoid being captured and punished. (Conye & Hall, 2017, #6).

7.2 WHAT ARE DRUGS?

In general a drug is any substance capable of altering the normal functioning of an organism,
in this order of ideas no substance is either good or bad in itself, the use made of them is
what would determine its consequences. In this approach, cannabis, ecstasy, LSD would be
classified as drugs, as well as Coffee and Tobacco. A more formal definition established by
the World Health Organization (WHO), interprets drugs as substances that affect the mind
and mental processes. According to common sense, most people would understand that
drugs are the substances that “gets you high”, this definition refers to the so-called
psychotropic or psychoactive drugs. Usually, legal substances, such as alcohol and caffeine,
are not seen as drugs even though they are. This mistaken view gained strength, mainly from
the UN treaties of 1961 and 1971 which aimed to control and prohibit the production and
distribution of various substances. in which alcohol, tobacco and caffeine were not even
mentioned. (Ferreira & de Paula, 2016, #189).

The numerous terminologies developed for classifying drugs might vary according to different
factors, and are often subjective. Regarding the origin of these substances, the most
common ratings are: Natural, Synthetic and Semi-synthetic. Regarding the effects generated
in users, drugs could be: Stimulants, Depressants and Disturbing. As for the legal issues we
have: Legal, Illicit and Controlled. (Ferreira & de Paula, 2016, #190)

7.3 RISKS OF TAKING DRUGS AND ITS REGULATIONS.

Drugs including alcohol and tobacco products are a major cause of harm to individuals and
society, notably alcohol and tobacco, are regulated by taxation, sales, and restrictions on the
age of purchase, while a great portion of the popular drugs available in the market don't have
legal regulations. (Nutt et al., 2010, #1558).

It is important to acknowledge that in fact drugs do harm the individuals that consume them
and the society in which these people live, then it's necessary to present a hierarchy of the
substances according to the harm that they produce. In the United Kingdom a group of
experts did a study in which several factors were taken into consideration to create a scale of

9
the harmfulness of several popular drugs that are available in the market, factors such as
harm to the user and harm to others in physical, psychological and social factors were taken
into consideration. (Nutt et al., 2010, #1559).
The results of this study showed that the most harmful drugs to users were heroin, crack
cocaine, and metamfetamine, whereas the most harmful to others were alcohol, crack
cocaine, and heroin. When the two part-scores were combined, alcohol was the most harmful
drug followed by heroin and crack cocaine. (Nutt et al., 2010, #1561)

Fig. 1. (Nutt et al., 2010, #1561)

In fig.1 the blue line describe the harm that this substances generate to its users and the red
one the harm it creates to society it's evident how regulated and widely available drugs such
as Alcohol and Tobacco generate a great amount of damage not only to the individual but
also to the people around them, while Cannabis that is an illegal substance scores lower to
both of them. and something that shows evidence to the argument that present drug
regulations are flawed is seeing how substances that are regarded in society as dangerous
and have no signs of being regulated by the market like LSD and Ecstasy score at the
bottom of the harm hierarchy, generating mostly harm to the users themselves but not the
society, still the fact that this substances can only be acquired via illegal markets make them
dangerous to buy, carry and consume.

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7.4 DRUGS AND TOURISM

The term drug tourism refers to traveling aimed at legal acquisition and consumption of
psychoactive substances, or a trip in which the principal objective is to use drugs. (Hoffman,
2014, #455). Tourism in general have, both positive and negative impacts for the destination.
on the positive side it can improve local economies, and existing services, or dynamize the
emergence of new ones, still and negative effects such as the destruction of the cultural traits
and traditions of the locals, it might also elevate the cost of living, and the removal of
communities residing in areas with high potential and tourist appeal, etc. (Ferreira & de
Paula, 2016, #192)

In the context of drug tourism there are as well positive and negative aspects, to the positive
aspects, it is possible to occur an increase in the generation of foreign exchange and in
several sectors of the local economy new positions in the labor market. as well as an
increased demand by visitors from different locations. then in the negative points, it could
intensify crime rates which are associated with the illegal commerce of illicit substances, the
illegal organizations that roam the area might as several factors might lead to the introduction
of new drugs, even though it's impossible to affirm that without restrictions this wouldn't
happen, this negative factors become especially true when the consumption and usage of
substances is prohibited. (Ferreira & de Paula, 2016, #192),

Drug tourism turned out to be only slightly encouraged, rarely discussed, and in many cases
seen as a criminal attitude. in this day an age it is a taboo topic and in most parts of the world
the people that use or distributes drugs are seen as problems for the society, it soon
becomes clear that this type of tourism has many legal implications and involves big risks for
the people that want to take this trips, as possible penalties or implications in the visited
destination, not only with the government institutions but with the illegal institutions that in
most if not all cases handle the business itself, as well as in their home countries especially
when there is an attempt to bring drugs in return, rather than only use during the trip.

the tourism industry must have a change in paradigma and offer a completely different
approach that it does to the traditional tourism industry to serve this new niche of drug
tourism, the main reason of this is because the behavior of tourists that travel a destination
looking for mind altering substances is open and undefined, they almost always travel alone,
they organize their own trips and they do not travel in large groups, and try to escape the
most from destinations and activities related to mass tourism. (Ferreira & de Paula, 2016,
#190). its important to take into consideration that drug tourism is still considered taboo in

11
most countries by the present date which means that the behavior of this drug tourist might
change as more destinations legalize the use of mind altering substances and more
companies offer tours or packages where the consumption of substances is included in a
safe and legal manner.

An important question arises, is drug use the main reason for the trips of the drug tourists?,
or is it just an added factor? Based on Hoffman's research for most interviewed tourists, the
drug use was not the main objective, and it would only be a complementary factor. Therefore,
he concluded that the drug experiences are not homogeneous and might be associated with
a hedonistic behavior and the search for fun, as well as the need for having deeper
experiences. (Ferreira & de Paula, 2016, #191) this means that there is so much more about
these trips that just the substance use itself, it might come to the destination, the culture or
the factors that roam around the usage of the substances, such as rituals or spiritual
journeys, still more research is needed on this topic, it might as well be that drug tourist just
want to go to a certain destination to use substances without paying to much importance to
the destination itself, places where drugs are cheaper, more readily available or the laws are
less severe or not as heavily implemented in their home land, might be the only reason a
drug tourist might want to visit a destination itself.

7.5 RISKS INVOLVED WITH DRUGS AND TOURISM

the evidence shows how certain substances are more harmful than others to the user itself
and there is a different effect to society (Nutt et al., 2010, #1561), certain substances such as
heroin or methamphetamine among others have a high risk of causing dependance to users
(Lashkaripour & Torbati, 2012, #7). Based on the results obtained in a study made by Andrea
Grobe and Julia Lüer in 2011 named “Drug tourism: going on a trip holiday”, it was
discovered that certain risks involved should be addressed in this tourist niche market. Also
highlighted some important challenges relevant to drug tourism, both for suppliers which are
companies such as travel agencies and tour operators, as for tourists itself. For suppliers, the
risks might be the legal aspects of course in the majority of countries sale, production and
consumption of certain substances is illegal; governments usually adopt practices against
drug tourism this is caused by the association that drug consumption has to crimes and
social problems; and still the target market in drug tourism is not as compelling if compared
to other tourist segments. For tourists, the problems would be related to the difficulty of
finding drug tourism destinations, as there are no official advertisements and marketing; the
risks involved and the legal penalties as well as a lack of tourist attractions aimed at this
niche market also health and safety factors related with risks and deaths by overdose .
Therefore, they concluded that these points would negatively influence the development of
this type of tourism and that, as consumers would be motivated by different issues not to
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travel to certain destinations or avoid tourism at all, the problem that emerge is that people
will still travel great distances looking for substances, weather is legal or not, but the illegal
status that most of this substances have make them dangerous for the users and the society
itself. (Lashkaripour & Torbati, 2012, #7)

7.6 REGULATION OF CANNABIS: Colorado, U.S.A

In countries like the U.S specifically in the case of the state of Colorado, voters approved the
legalization of medical marijuana in 2000, medical licensure and use increased in 2009,
voters approved the legalization of retail marijuana in 2012, and retail sales began in 2014.
(Kim et al., 2016, # 797). Colorado residents 21 or older can buy up to an ounce of marijuana
per visit, while out-of-state visitors can purchase a quarter ounce of marijuana per visit.
Smoking is still prohibited in public spaces (Kang et al., 2016, #1). it is important to realize
the restrictions that this substance has in this specific case compared to substances like
tobacco or alcohol, which by definition are drugs, but are more freely available to purchase
and use.

The primary support behind the legalization of recreational marijuana was for marijuana
taxes as a “bonanza” Cannabis is one of the most heavily taxed consumer products in
Colorado, In the second year of legalization in 2014, recreational marijuana sales surpassed
those of medical marijuana. In 2015, recreational marijuana sales reached $588 million,
showing a sharp increase from $313 million in 2014, During the same year, marijuana
specific tax revenue excluding fee revenues reached almost $70 million, which was almost
double what the state earned from alcohol tax revenue (Kang et al., 2016, #2), another
important key point is that Colorado experienced its lowest unemployment rate in more than
6 years and over 22,000 occupation licenses have been issued for jobs created directly by
Colorado’s marijuana industry (Kang et al., 2016, #6). this generates a counter effect to the
problems the restrictions play themselves, now this substance generates revenue to the
state, and lowers the stress on the It is important to take into consideration that there are
risks involved with the consumption of cannabis, in a study that was made in 2016, it was
found that the proportion of people that attended the ER in the U.S state of Colorado slightly
increased after the legalization, and this was more predominant among out-of-state
residents. (Kim et al., 2016, #798)

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7.7 REGULATION OF CANNABIS: Amsterdam, the
Netherlands
While the rest of the world encapsulated most drugs under the harmful and illegal status, the
Netherlands had a different point of view In the early 1970s, the Dutch government
developed some studies on drugs, in which the Baan report (1972) and the Cohen report
(1975) ended up proposing the legalization of cannabis, this was pretty much the contrary of
what was happening in the world in that moment and, due to existing international treaties
and the views of others European countries at that time, the Dutch government considered it
wiser not to undertake such action. But the Dutch government realized that it was really
important to create a hierarchy of harmfulness of drugs and in 1978, legislation was then
amended to differentiate soft drugs from hard drugs, the idea was to separate the cannabis
market from other drugs such as cocaine and heroin, as well as stimulating the development
of a harm reduction policy, thus, possession and sale of small amounts of marijuana and
hashish began to be treated in a milder form, these drugs began to be tolerated, but there
was no process of legalization. new places were established where the sale and
consumption of this “soft drugs'' was allowed. These places were called Coffee shops, it's
worth noting that although tolerated, sale and consumption of soft drugs, and even the coffee
shops themselves remain illegal.

these adoption of regulations have been one of the key factors in the development of this
industry in amsterdam, being one of the most important aspects to the development of a safe
environment for consumers and for entrepreneurs and businessman that want to work in this
industry, the regulations are strict must be taken seriously, for example the licenses for
operation for the new coffee shops were given in the decade of the 70s and 80s. right now it
is impossible to open a new coffee shop, it is only allowed to transfer licenses from one
operator to another, but in some cases this transaction may be prohibited by the authorities.
For its operation the coffee shops should follow some strict rules: they are not allowed to
make any kind of advertising; they are only allowed to perform a limited amount of
transactions, just five gram can be sold per consumer, and its not allowed to have more than
500g in inventory; also customers are not permitted to generate disturbances in the
surrounding area, and the locals are only allowed to be open between 8 am to 1 am, they are
not allowed to sell or trade with alcoholic beverages, nor hard drugs and of course only
adults over 18 years old can make purchases. They can only be located within a minimum
distance of 250 meters from existing schools. Failure to comply with these rules is subject to
severe penalties, and inspections are intense. Importantly, the use of marijuana in public
areas is not permitted, but is often tolerated in certain localities, as in some of the many
parks of Amsterdam. The Netherlands has a strong policy that seems to be working in order

14
to defend consumers, this differs from the way that most countries manage consumption of
cannabis, still there is a big issue with the way the Netherlands is managing the production of
this substance, for example. According to information obtained from interviews with the
coffee shops owners (in 2012), most of the sold hashish is imported from Morocco and
Pakistan, which are countries that suffer from violence and corruption in its institutions for
drug related issues, but with regard to cannabis, there is also a local production of marijuana
that is known as “Nederwiet” it's important to take into consideration that according to Dutch
drug policy, remains illegal. In this context, then it would be possible to note a paradox: the
consumption, possession and trade of small amounts of marijuana and hashish are tolerated,
but there is no regulation on the production and entry of the drug, activities that are still
considered as a crime. (Ferreira & de Paula, 2016, #193) this generates a big issue
regarding safety of the consumer because of its illegal status, there are no controls on the
supply chain, and the quality of the product cannot be certified as completely safe, because
the providers have to work in the shadows or abroad under harsh conditions and generating
all the problems that prohibition causes, this also restrains the potential market opportunity
that the whole chain of production can offer, innovation in the plantation, safety and
management of the strains as assets cannot be handled in the most beneficial way because
of this gray area which the netherlands have decided to put on the consumption of
recreational cannabis.

7.8 CANNABIS ATTRACTIONS

The image of cannabis and its consumption has changed over the years specially in the
West, right now there are cannabis-related attractions that illustrate the influence of the
normalization process of cannabis on the global tourism industry. events like the Cannabis
world cup that is celebrated each year in Amsterdam attracts hundreds of tourists activities
such as trekking to the village of Melana in India, which culture has a great influence with
cannabis, still this kind of trip is pretty much a niche in the tourism sector because local
costumes that are not welcoming towards tourists, another interesting example of a cannabis
related attractions is the Rif Mountains in Morocco, where Cannabis consumption and
plancatantions are present in the local culture, still this is a destination only visited by few
tourists because and has not a lot of development in the tourism sector. There are many
more examples of this like Jamaica, Thailand, whose culture and general perception has a
relationship to Cannabis These attractions/activities demonstrate the growing interest in
cannabis in the West (Belhassen et al., 2007, #317).

While some destinations are attractive to Cannabis tourists because of its ancient history and
culture related to cannabis like Melania in India, some other destinations can generate its
own artificial attractions like Amsterdam in the Netherlands which has perhaps the most
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famous case related to drug tourism the Coffee shops, this are establishments where the
sale and consumption of cannabis and hashish are tolerated and regulated, According to
data of a report of the Department of Research and Statistics of Amsterdam (2007), of the
4.5 million tourists spending a night on the town, 26% visit at least one coffee shop and
10% of tourists would even mention that this was one of the main reasons for visiting the city.
(Ferreira & de Paula, 2016, #193). One interesting example that shows the potential of this
industry is the “Bulldog coffee shop”, considered by many as the first and most famous coffee
shop in town it was founded in 1975, in the Red Light District, it ended by turning into a large
brand with bar, hotel and many other units across the city, and that is usually mentioned in of
many the tour guides. This is an example of how a coffee shop became an attraction for
tourists to visit and as the company grew so did its assets and the interest of tourists to know
about this brand. (Ferreira & de Paula, 2016, #193)

8.CONCLUSIONS
human beings consume drugs everyday, a cup of coffee at breakfast, a cigarette after lunch,
a beer after work, all these substances are drugs, because they are substances capable of
altering the normal functioning of the organism, still all of the mentioned substances are
accepted and its consumption is seen as normal in the western culture, all of this have
different effects on the human body, what makes it interesting is the perception around them,
other types of drugs such as Heroin, Cannabis, Methamphetamines are perceived as harmful
or dangerous, this is in part because of the so called “war on drugs” which is a set of
restrictions and regulations which main objective is to make certain substances illegal to
stop the retail and consumption of them but history has shown us that this restrictions have
not generated the intended results on the contrary the great profits that the legal status of
these substances create incentives for people to start in this business and for using violence
and corruption in all institutions worldwide. (Conye & Hall, 2017, #4). illegal groups have
formed around the illegal drug market, generating immense amounts of revenue, to combat
this illegal organizations several millions of dollars have been spent worldwide without
positive results, the market for illegal substances is still there, there is great availability of
illegal drugs worldwide and the spending and corruption that this generates on government
institutions worldwide is astonishing.

one of the intent purposes of the restrictions on drugs is to protect the general public of the
harm that this might generate, for example substances like Heroin and Methamphetamines
cause tremendous harm to the users that choose to consume them, they have a really high
chance of generating dependance, and they are harmful for the society around the users
themselves, but the main issue with the regulations that are imposed worldwide is that most

16
drugs with the notable exception of tobacco and alcohol, are encapsulated in the same
category, research has shown that substances like LSD, Psilocybin mushrooms and
Cannabis are less harmful than alcohol and tobacco yet their distribution, sale and
consumption have the same category as substances like Heroin and Methamphetamines
which are extremely dangerous for its user. A notable exception is the Netherlands that
chose to categorize “soft drugs” and “hard drugs” according to the damage that they
generate on its user, this led to a country in which cannabis consumption and retail is
tolerated but not legal.

the western world has changed its attitude towards cannabis in the recent years, a proof of
this is the legalization of consumption and retail of cannabis in countries like Canada, and
certain states of the U.S.A, this has led to the development of a huge industry amongst all
the production chain, from the factories that are used to cultivate the crops and process the
plant to the dispensaries that sell cannabis and the accessories and paraphernalia attached
to it, the fact that cannabis consumption is illegal almost worldwide gives an incentive for
tourist that want to use this substance to travel to locations where it is widely available, safe
and legal to use. for the tourism industry this means that locations that might not attract
tourism at all might become a hot spot for tourists, and development of this areas might arise,
still the development of this kind of tourism might generate its own drawbacks, in the case of
the Netherlands, a not so clear policy towards the whole production chain leads to coffee
shops selling cannabis that comes from shady sources or from abroad in places where the
production of this substances is still illegal and controlled by criminal organizations. Germany
is facing a turning point in its history, by legalizing recreational consumption of cannabis, a
great opportunity to develop a industry that is highly profitable might become a reality this
will probably lead to generating more taxes, developing new companies and jobs, offering
protection to the end consumer and regulating a market that is in the hands of illegal groups
that rely on tactics of corruption and violence to operate. But in order to do so, it has to
implement strict regulations to all the stakeholders in the whole chain of production. An
implementation of weak restrictions or a gray market might generate issues and given the
profitability of this industry is to expect that illegal organizations might take advantage of
these issues. Germany also has to develop attractions related to the consumption of
cannabis for the visitors so that they travel to the country not only to use Cannabis but to
experience these attractions themselves, Amsterdam has made events like the cannabis
world cup, which attracts several tourists every year, this type of events are key in the
development of Germany as a cannabis destination.

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8.1 REFLECTIONS
This subject is fascinating, looking for information towards this area is quite hard, because
not a lot of research is available in the topic, this is a controversial topic but the attitude
towards it is changing as time passes by. It is really important to note all the entrepreneurship
opportunities that might arise if this industry gets regulated. it might transform Germany into a
major touristic spot in Europe and it might even change the attitude of nearby governments
towards it, only time will tell.

9.TERMINOLOGY

Drugs

Soft drugs

Hard Drugs

DEA

Coffee shops

war on drugs

Drug tourism: refers to traveling aimed at legal acquisition and consumption of psychoactive

substances, or a trip in which the principal objective is to use drugs. (Hoffman, 2014, #455).

Medical Cannabis

Cartels

THC

CBD

Stimulants drugs
Depressant drugs
Disturbing drugs

References

18
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