Holland's status as haven for 'soft' drugs has taken another knock as the famous cannabis-selling coffee shops face tighter restrictions.
The Dutch government is reclassifying high-strength cannabis to put it in the same category as hard drugs.
It says the amount of the main active chemical in the drug, THC, has gone up, making it far more potent than a generation ago.
It means the infamous coffee shops of Amsterdam and other cities will be forced to take the popular, high-strength varieties off their shelves, the BBC reports.
Dutch politicians say high-strength cannabis, known as "skunk", is more dangerous than it was before.
In the future, anything containing more than 15% THC will be treated the same way as hard drugs, such as cocaine and ecstasy.
The move is a big blow to the coffee shops - and means they will have to replace about 80% of their stock with weaker varieties.
Marc Josemans, who runs a cafe in Maastricht, says he believes that the new tough approach is being driven by the increasingly influential far-right in Dutch politics.
"You immediately can taste the difference. Everything which is considered unusual for them - they call it 'left hobbies' and under this name they want to ban all 'left hobbies', like using cannabis," he told the BBC.
From next year, the Dutch government also plans to ban tourists from entering coffee shops across the country.
