The cannabis-loving clientele of the Liberty II Café are convinced that the latest attempt by authorities to curb their habit will backfire.

Faced with outrage from residents about rowdy behaviour, Roosendaal’s Mayor, Michel Marijnen, wants to close the town’s four coffee shops but is being hampered by civil rights laws.

Like many Dutch “coffee shops” the Liberty II boasts a wide range of marijuana strains, from Amnesia through K2 to Hollands Glorie, sold openly in joints and small amounts over the counter.

Even though it is tucked away in a side street in the sleepy town of Roosendaal, its location near the southern Dutch border has made it a magnet for drug tourists who arrive in their thousands every week from across northern Europe.

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Mr Marijnen is to address a summit for dozens of mayors from towns across the Netherlands today on how to tackle the problems surrounding coffee shops.

Some customers fear that it will mark the beginning of the end for a Dutch institution. His plan is to cut the amount of personal-use cannabis that will be tolerated from 5g to 2g in an attempt to deter the drug tourists, who have tested Dutch tolerance of soft drugs to breaking point.

Jamal, the manager of Liberty II, said that the latest restriction would cause more problems than it solved. “If they cut back to 2 grammes, then people will come back every day, while with 5 grammes they come every week. If they come back every day it will be a big problem for the town.”

Saeed, a customer in Liberty II, added: “If they close the coffee shops, where will people buy stuff to smoke? Without the coffee shops, people will buy on the street, which will mean a lot of problems.”

Brian, the café’s security guard, agreed: “If you close the coffee shops it will be like Al Capone when they cut the alcohol. There will just be more and more people getting it from private houses or on the street.”

The Netherlands is facing a parallel problem with its toleration of prostitution and has had to close experimental controlled pickup areas because they attracted too many drug dealers and muggers. In Amsterdam there has been a drive to cut back on prostitute windows.

In Roosendaal, Mr Marijnen is fed up with the 13,000 drug tourists who arrive each week. “Selling drugs is not a right,” he said. He plans to enforce the new weight rule vigorously when it comes into force in February and close shops caught selling too much.

Last year he brought in new rules forcing the coffee shops to close by 8pm, but that failed to solve the problem.

Frank van den Molen, the area police chief, said: “After 8pm you find some guys hanging around trying to speak to visitors who were too late for the shops and trying to sell them soft drugs or rob them – that is one of the main things irritating the residents here.”

Recently installed CCTV cameras have made a difference, however, helping police to spot drug tourists who exceed the tolerated 5g of cannabis by buying the maximum amount from each shop. “We call it coffee-shop-hopping,” said Mr van der Molen. “But we have CCTV cameras and if we see that visitors are going to Liberty and Azul and Christiana and Yellow Moon we will stop them.”

One of the day-trippers, Coolio, 40, arrived yesterday by train from Leuven, Belgium. “What you buy for €10 (£8.50) here will cost you €20 in Leuven,” he said. “I understand there is too much grass for the people living here, but you should not blame the coffee shops. You have to blame the Belgian Government, why don’t they make the coffee shops legal for their own people?”

Potted history

— About 750 coffee houses are licensed to sell marijuana in the Netherlands – half in Amsterdam

— There are more than 1,000 strains of the drug, many from crossbreeding

— More than 420 slang words exist for marijuana, including pot, weed, wacky-backy, tea and draw

Archaeologists have found evidence of prehistoric marijuana smoking as long ago as the 3rd millennium BC

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