MOSCOW, June 6 (RAPSI) – The Hague District Court has ruled that the owners of coffee shops in the Netherlands selling hashish and marijuana must be compensated for losses after marijuana sales were restricted last year, Kommersant daily reports on Thursday.

The Dutch association of retail cannabis traders and a number of coffee shops in the provinces of Limburg, North Brabant and Zeeland filed a lawsuit in September last year asking the court to declare the ban on cannabis sales to foreigners illegal.

The ban was introduced temporarily, from May 1 to November 19, 2012 and allowed retailers in the three provinces to sell cannabis only to local residents bearing special ID cards. Coffee shop owners suffered significant financial losses, claiming the ban took away 90% of their customers.

The ban was introduced in the three provinces that are most visited by foreign tourists, and was to extend to the other parts of the country, including Amsterdam. However, the ban was revoked last fall after the new government took over.

The court ruled that the government should compensate the coffee shops’ losses. The size of the compensation is yet to be determined.

At the same time, the court ruled that the decision to restrict hashish and marijuana sales to tourists was perfectly legitimate and in compliance with the EU legislation. It has effectively reduced drug tourism in the southern provinces, Kommersant writes.