In response to previous district council questions, district chairman Bart Vink confirms that it is prohibited for coffee shops to advertise their range online or offline.
Responsibility
However, according to him, enforcement after an advertisement on social media is complicated because it is difficult to determine who is responsible for the content on those types of platforms.
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Coffee shops are responding to this by moving their marketing activities to online channels, where supervision and enforcement are much less strict.
“The ban is extremely strict, for example, a coffee shop owner was previously convicted for having business cards on the counter. But apparently anything is possible online,” says the district councilor.
Young people from 13
Limburg believes it is unacceptable for coffee shops to fully advertise their products on platforms such as Instagram, where young people from the age of 13 can create an account. Sometimes these are paid advertisements, intended to reach a specific target group.
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Vink agrees with him, but he refers to social media platforms, national regulators and the government to tackle the problem. Stadsdeel Zuid has no influence on international platforms such as Instagram.
Enforcement request
The Amsterdam CDA has therefore submitted enforcement requests for ten coffee shops in Amsterdam South. “It is crazy that we now have to submit a request for this. The council must proactively tackle these prohibited drug advertisements head on,” says Limburg.
Sometimes coffee shops are punished for online advertising. In 2022, all four branches of the coffee shop chain Boerejongens had to close for a week because the chain had advertised online.
Celebrity videos
This happened via social media and the website of Amsterdam Genetics, a seed company affiliated with the coffee shops. The range was on display there. The chain also had videos featuring international and national celebrities and videos on YouTube promoting the products.
Boerejongens felt the punishment was unjustified because, according to them, the posts on social media were placed by third parties for which they cannot be held responsible.