Dutch U-turn on soft drugs tolerance

This sux...
I guess that they will have big problems with their other related industries: hospitality, food, museums and many others...a lots of Dutch people live from tourists money, what they will do when they will be forced to close automatically their business??....probably in one year, along with a significant drop in GDP, they will come back on that decisions
 
I still haven't seen anyone address the, in my opinion, most ridiculous part of this article.

They are talking about consistent problems with the underground and illegal cultivation of marijuana. This is the same bullshit they say about Medical marijuana in the US. They are moving in the wrong direction. Anyone can see that the simplest and most effective way to stop the illegal drug markets is to stop toeing the line and actually legalize cannabis. Decriminalization always seems like a good start, but drug warriors adapt. With decriminalization comes a new batch of arguments against drugs. Legalization is the only true way to stop almost all drug related violence and problems. Unfortunately in order to allow any drugs to be legalized, society must be ready to accept that using drugs is not an immoral thing. Drugs are objects just like anything else. Sometimes they are used irresponsibly, but it is the people not the drugs that are the problem. Unfortunately, the powers that be are unwilling to make that first step. I vehemently believe that the main reason marijuana is still illegal has nothing to do with the amount of harm associated or the "gateway theory," but rather with the fact that if marijuana is made legal they have to accept the fact that it is ok to get fucked up. And once they open that door, the arguments against the illegality of other drugs will crumble. When it boils down to it, the foundation of the drug war is the belief that using drugs is an immoral, horrible thing to do. If we understand this to be false, then the reasons for the continuation of the drug war will diminish. And of course, that is the opposite of what the current power structure wants.

*Sorry for the incoherent rant; really not sober.*
 
whose down for a bluelight trip to the netherlands too see how wooden shoes are made ?


but i wouldnt mind a pair of these for my next e ticket ride

http://www.thedutchstore.com/slippers.html

cloggy_pair_larger.jpg
 
In the border area (Roosendaal & Bergen op Zoom) they even took it a little step further: since today 8 shops are closed down. From now on it's zero-tolerance over there! For everyone! (even for the Dutch ppl themselves)

Well, even when the shops were open you couldn't walk down the main street (coming from the station) without being annoyed with ppl who want to sell you all kinds of shit, sometimes in gang and in a very agressive style...So I guess for those ppl it's a good thing; the illegal market will flourish!
 
Dutch coffee shops close under drugs ban

ALeqM5ha22Rt7SXcA8ZD6p77GI648Q9Nlg


By Alix Rijckaert (AFP) – 7 hours ago

ROOSENDAAL, Netherlands — Hundreds of people found the doors closed Wednesday at seven Dutch coffee shops that were forced to stop selling soft drugs under mayors' orders, officials in two towns said.

An eighth shop remained open with the owner insisting it was selling "only coffee" as the cannabis ban took effect following a defeat for the coffee shops in court on Tuesday.

"I am surprised. I didn't know that one can no longer buy" cannabis here, said Sarah, a 25-year-old student, who travelled to the southern Dutch city of Roosendaal by train from Antwerp across the border in Belgium.

The consumption and possession of small amounts of cannabis have been decriminalised since 1976 in the Netherlands, where it is sold in about 700 licensed coffee shops.

However, the mayors of Roosendaal and Bergen-op-Zoom, some 15 kilometres (xx miles) apart, announced last year that all eight coffee shops within their borders would be barred from selling cannabis from Wednesday.

The move was aimed at staving off some 25,000 marijuana-smoking tourists, mainly French and Belgian, who flood their communities every week.

Roosendaal's mayor Michel Marijnen said the cannabis ban "is definite, at least until there are no more drug tourists coming here."

Several hundred "drug tourists" visited in vain on Wednesday, said the mayor, as Dutch police reinforced by Belgian officers patrolled and distributed information leaflets.

The coffee shops can continue operating as ordinary bars or cafes, but violation of the drugs ban would be punishable by a five-year closure.

Six of the shops took the mayors to court last week to try to prevent any closure in the event of a transgression, but a judge rejected their application.

The six "have left their shutters down" on Wednesday, their lawyer Harry Nieland told AFP, alongside a seventh coffee shop that had not been part of the court action.

He said his clients were considering filing a new challenge to the mayors' decision with an administrative tribunal.

Several staff members were posted at the entrance to coffee shop Azul in Roosendaal Wednesday, now selling only beverages, to intercept clients unaware of the changes.

Azul used to accommodate hundreds of cannabis buyers every day.

"This will do nothing but displace the problem," said Sarah, who would not give her last name.

"Next time, I will simply take the bus to (nearby) Breda," where coffee shops are still allowed to sell marijuana.

Marijnen said police would continue operations to prevent illegal street sales following the coffee shop closures.

Meanwhile, in a snack bar in Roosendaal, a man was offering large quantities of cannabis at prices lower than those of the former coffee shops.

The national Dutch government announced plans last week to limit drug tourism by reserving hundreds of cannabis-vending coffee shops for locals.
Click to expand...

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jZ7ioD3taR9T4P0ew6Fx-MoT-sFg
 
Give it time for their economy to suffer.

Then they'll soon see what that little plant can do for their wallets.
 
Oh no this is gonna be used as ANTI-DRUG propaganda in legalization debates.
"Look! Even holland banned it! Devils work!"
 
This doesnt make sense. They have to be expecting to lose revenue due to these changes. I'm sure some of these "drug tourists" come over to party on the weekend and may cause some trouble, but the money they bring has to outweigh their burden. Just like a poster above said, they will find out how much their economy depends on cannabis (and to a lesser extent, legalized prostitution, etc.). I've been to Europe a couple of times but I have never had the opportunity to visit Amsterdam. I can't imagine being in a cannabis friendly environment.
 
Although I don't agree with recent government policies here, I also disagree with all those people here that think the so called drug tourists only bring us money. Most of this so-called drug tourism is not in Amsterdam but in the southern dutch cities.. Please believe me when I say these folks do cause a nuisance.
 
Although I don't agree with recent government policies here, I also disagree with all those people here that think the so called drug tourists only bring us money. Most of this so-called drug tourism is not in Amsterdam but in the southern dutch cities.. Please believe me when I say these folks do cause a nuisance.
Click to expand...

I'd probably be annoyed too. I was there in 86' as a 15 year old with my dad. We went into Amsterdam on a fri night in July without a room so we had to wander the streets because the last train out of the country was at 2100 and by the time we realized we weren't getting a room we missed it. It was a cool wandering the streets of Amsterdam all night, it was a wild place. But the streets were filled with thousands of British drunk kooks. By that time I had been smoking buds for 2 years so the cafe's were cool to see (couldn't ditch my dad), but the dope fiends around the central station were anoying. This was in 86', ten years after soft drugs were decriminalized in The Netherlands. Little aside the supreme court of Alaska decriminalized weed the year before in 1975 and made it allowable to possess and cultivate cannabis on ones personal property.%) I remember meeting world war II generation people on the train coming in to Amsterdam that were proud of their countries history of tolerance and pragmaticism even as it extended to vices and "soft drugs". But in college in the 90s I met several dutch students that weren't down with weed and were embaraced of the reputation of their country as a meca for drug and sex tourism. Amsterdam wasn't the place for hard drugs in the 80s- its street scene was and I heard still is a rip off. The place to go for hard drugs in those years was Zurich's platzspitz (aka "needle park.")

The Amsterdam I remember was a beautiful city and it is a shame that some people are so busy trying to smoke the flowers than to take time to smell the tulips. I don't know what its like today but I would get anoyed too if it was over run by disrespectful dipshits that have no appreciation for my culture and civility. An important concept of surf travel is respect, an attitude people should practice everyplace they travel. By the way, the economy of the Netherlands is diversified enough that lost euros from cannabis tourism will be easily absorbed.

In CA a proposition will probably make it on the ballot to full on legalize weed. If it passess, and as close as we are to Tijuana, Mexico, maybe this will become a great center of drug tourism- we can use the money, but survive without it, but they definately can down there. Tourism is 1/10th what it was even 3-4 years ago. Maybe the intrepid drug tourist of the next decade can come here to San Diego for kind bud and travel the 15-20 km down there to enjoy every other vice imaginable. If there wasn't so much violence and corruption, TJ would be a drug tourists pradise. Currently there is a huge open scene there for lots of things. The federal government decrimnalized possession of certain drugs...I'm interested to see what effect that will have on the drug scene there...maybe foreign nationals will have to pay less of a "fine" for amounts the mexican government declared allowable.8)
 
Last edited:
So are they in the process of shutting down ALL the coffeshops in amsterdam? all 700 of them or what??
 
Has the mayor made any sort of speech about his decision..?

It would be interesting to hear what some more people living there think about the issue.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top