The city of Breda in the Southern province Brabant has seen the number of coffeeshops visitors rise by 50 percent since the shops in the neighboring towns Bergen op Zoom and Roosendaal closed their doors.

According to a city ordered “Area Crime and Nuisance Scan”, the closure of the coffeeshops in January of 2010 led to a 30 percent increase in the number of visitors to Breda coffeeshops. This has now risen to a 50 percent increase.

The data shows that over the last year, the rise in the number of visitors did not lead to an increase in reports of drug-related nuisance or crime.