Maastricht goes to pot

Maastricht, the Dutch town that has come to symbolise a Europe of open borders, may be about start closing them again, having won the first stage of a legal battle to stop foreigners being sold cannabis in its licensed coffee shops. Thousands of "drug tourists" pour into the picturesque frontier city every day, the International Herald Tribune reports. Worried by a rise in crime, city officials went to the European Court of Justice to have sales restricted to people living in Holland. Meanwhile Germany intends to legalise "cannabis on prescription" headlines the Tageszeitung. Cannabis-based drugs will be prescribed for pain relief to cancer patients and people with multiple sclerosis, it reports.