the Netherlands. As a result of this measure, 16 coffee shops were forced to
close in 2009. Another example of the Rotterdam policy is that it was the
first city to start a compulsory course for the personnel of coffee shops,
during which they were educated on several issues related to cannabis, such
as the juridical, physical and social-psychological aspects of cannabis use.
On top of that, the city of Rotterdam is the only municipality to have
issued a ban on the relocation of coffee shops.
The monitoring of coffee shops may take the form of either a formal
inspection or an informal, fleeting check-up. During a formal inspection,
police officers will explicitly state that they are inspecting the coffee shop
upon entering it and that the coffee shop manager has to co-operate by, for
instance, showing the stash of cannabis which will then be weighed by the
officers to determine whether or not it exceeds the maximum of 500 g.
Sometimes the formal inspections have an integrated character, meaning
that other departments, such as the tax-authorities, fire-brigade and the
immigration-department participate in them. The informal, more fleeting
inspections take place as part of the regular police patrols of the city and
take the form of informal checks for anti-social behaviour and casual con-
versations with the coffee shop owners with the aim of staying in touch
with them.
METHODS
The research for this paper was commissioned by the city of Rotterdam
and focused on the evaluation of its cannabis policy, especially in relation
to nuisance or anti-social behaviour, such as double-parking, noise and
men hanging around, in order to give advice in relation to the implementa-
tion of new policies which might result in the closure of coffee shops
(Mu ̈ller, van Ooyen-Houben, & van de Bunt, 2012).
In-depth interviews were held with six police officers and a policymaker
involved in the analysis of the data gathered during police surveillance of
the coffee shops who reported directly to the mayor of Rotterdam.
Initially, my plan was to interview the police officerscalledhoreca-co-
ordinatorsin charge of monitoring the food service industry, including
coffee shops, and those who do the actual work in the streets. The plan was
to interview police officers working in the five districts where most coffee
shops are located. I excluded one district because one of my students had
146 THADDEUS MU ̈LLER