When I first visited Holland back in the mid-1980s you could buy 30g of cannabis and drink alcohol in coffeeshops.
Now you can only buy 5g and you can't drink alcohol in coffeeshops.
When these changes came about were they imposed at a national level? Or did municipal authorities have the right to reject these changes?
I assume not, because these are the rules that govern all coffeeshops and are a condition of their licenses as well. I've not come across any suggestion that local councils can change these conditions in their given area, even though they themselves grant the licenses.
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In which case, it seems to me that if local authorities didn't have the right to over-ride these proposals (because the legislation was established at a national level) then a weedpass could also be imposed at a national level and the local authorities would have to accept them as well, whether they want to or not.
National laws clearly frame the coffeeshop policy, while local councils implement them (if they want to) at a local level. But that doesn't mean that councils can change the legal framework under which they operate (maximum amount for sale, amount for stock, alcohol, age limits, and so on). So if national laws change then presumably councils are required to operate within whatever new parameters they establish.
So if a weedpass is imposed at a national level, then the councils would have to implement it, whether they want to or not, just like the changes concerning the amounts coffeeshops can stock and sell, age limits, the alcohol ban, etc.
The responses by councils like Amsterdam and others indicate they don't want the weedpass, but they've not actually said that they have the absolute right of veto, so presumably the haven't got that right. If they had then the discussion taking place now wouldn't be happening. Councils wouldn't be saying they don't want the weedpass, they'd be saying they're not having it period, end of conversation. And the git proposing the legislation wouldn't be in a position to say that it will definitely apply to Amsterdam, as he has been doing. So presumably he thinks that national laws will over-ride any objections to the pass from local councils and stop them implementing it differently from the national guidelines.
I personally think if the weedpass is legislated at a national level, then councils will indeed have to implement it, just like the quantity limits, the booze ban, age limits and so on.
And presumably that's why the coffeeshop owners are so concerned. And rightly so. Because if the government legislate for it at a national level, then it'll probably happen, just like all the other conditions/restrictions currently in place.
That's not to say that it can't be challenged legally - on the basis of residential criteria, violation of privacy, restrictions and limitations concerning membership and the like - but that would be challenging the specifics of any law, not the principle of the law itself.
This is just me expressing my opinion, so please don't threaten to beat me up or anything if you disagree.
Just my thoughts on the weedpass thing from reading this thread and looking at the legal policies that seem to frame the coffeeshop policy...
