How scary is this. You go to buy some nugs and next thing you know…fingerprint please. WTF? If you read the article, you can see that there are some reasons as to why they are doing it, but it still seems real big brotherish to me.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: Coffee shops licensed to sell marijuana in the southern Dutch city of Maastricht will begin fingerprinting customers and scanning their IDs this summer, a spokesman for the shops said Wednesday.

The measures are aimed at ensuring the rules of the Netherlands famed tolerance policy are not violated, which could lead to shops being closed, said Marc Josemans, chairman of the Union of Maastricht’s Coffee Shops.

“This is not something that we are doing willingly, but with pain in our hearts,” Josemans told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday. He said shops in Rotterdam and several Dutch border cities were considering following suit.

“We’re very afraid we’re going to lose customers over this, and to be honest we’re even a little ashamed we’re doing it, but the City of Maastricht has such harsh punishments that we don’t feel we have any choice,” he said.

Marijuana is technically illegal in the Netherlands, but cities may license shops to sell no more than 5 grams (less than a quarter ounce) per customer per day. The shops may not sell to anyone under 18, nor permit drugs other than marijuana or hashish on the premises.

Since Maastricht Mayor Gerd Leers took office in 2002, police have strictly enforced the rules, and shops found in violation are automatically closed for a minimum of three months for a single infraction, six months for a second offense, and permanently for a third.

As a result, 11 of Maastricht’s 26 licensed shops have been closed, leaving just 15 open.

Josemans, who is also owner of the “Easy Going” coffee shop, said the electronic system would be tested at his store Aug. 1 and used by all licensed stores by September.

Fingerprints would be coupled with a digital photograph and a scan of customers’ ID cards — removing all personal information except date of birth — and then stored on a computer system at the shop.

When a customer wants to buy weed, he will have to prove that he or she is of age, and has not already purchased the 5-gram limit that day at the same store. Read the rest of this entry �