Netherlands to ban tourists from marijuana 'coffee shops,' concerns over Amsterdam to

[mr.haze420]

when i came here in 1995 i went rotterdam and was sent by a friend to a bar, where there was a guy sitting at the back. he had a menu and a small brief case with the smoke. i guess this style will be coming back. they do not have enough police to check the coffeeshops. no smoking cigarettes ban, ignored at many bars and no one is checking. another useless law.

 

[Babbabud]

Looks like its time to move the 420 event to cali !!

 

[McSnappler]

amsterdam will look like detroit, if they close the shops. does the gov really think there are enough dutch people to support all the tourist business's here, there a 9 argentinian restaurants on the damstraat, how many dutch eat there, none. hundreds of souvenier shops selling the same shit, how many dutch people buying hats, t-shirts and stuff with amsterdam written on it, none. i hope some politcians crash this rightwing ant-people government.

I think they have some warped idea that they will attract a new breed of Amsterdam tourist - the kind that currently would go on trips to other major European cities (e.g. London, Paris, Berlin etc) but shy away from the Netherlands because of the liberal cannabis situation that attracts so many.

The people of Amsterdam should be concerned about how many years this transition will take, even if they don't give a toss about the coffeeshops.

 

[McSnappler]

Looks like its time to move the 420 event to cali !!

Amen. I'll start saving for the air fares!

 

[mellofello]

Reading that article it seems to be sure of the certainty of the outcome but most of what it is reporting is a letter to parliment. Suggests that this issue is still to be discussed in parliment. As we all know this would seem to be a terrible mistake for the people of amsterdam, people will lose jobs, businesses, and all that property that has been invested in will make big loses too. Like mr Haze said with detroit, business ceases or moves on and the city dies.

I'm sure that if we the stoners can grasp this we must not be the only ones. I think that these kind of laws would effect lots of people unconnected to the canna industry and it is those people that will play a big part in stopping this from happening.

I hope!

peace

mello


e2a spain not cali! Seems cali weed is just as expensive as adam if not worse and no one will have med cards. Also much easier to get our own supplies there than strict US customs

 

[Strainhunter]

.......

And to those of you ( evidently Americans ) who content yourselves with a ' fuck you' smugness to the loss of tourist dollar and the pissing contest of 'Cali weed is better anyway', you are spectacularly missing the point. The loss of another freedom looms and the jackboots of the ' war on drugs' marches into Europe.

The one missing the point here is you:

Weed is not now and NEVER has been legal anywhere in the Netherlands.

Potentially stopping selling pot to tourists would be preserving for their own what was never meant to be for tourists in first place and so far has only been tolerated, not accepted.


Ever read about medical cards in Cali? You can only get one as a legal Cali resident. Not as a tourist, not as a visitor, not as anyone else but as a legal Californian resident.
Why is that?
To avoid what has been looming over A'dam and the Netherlands: Tourists screwing it up for those it was meant to be for in first place!

How do I know? Because I lived there for years. Have you?

 

[Harry Gypsna]

"dutch to close coffeshops"
what again? like theyve been going every 2 years since the policy started up....

 

[Cry Tuff]

The one missing the point here is you:

Weed is not now and NEVER has been legal anywhere in the Netherlands.

Potentially stopping selling pot to tourists would be preserving for their own what was never meant to be for tourists in first place and so far has only been tolerated, not accepted.


Ever read about medical cards in Cali? You can only get one as a legal Cali resident. Not as a tourist, not as a visitor, not as anyone else but as a legal Californian resident.
Why is that?
To avoid what has been looming over A'dam and the Netherlands: Tourists screwing it up for those it was meant to be for in first place!

How do I know? Because I lived there for years. Have you?

You will point out to me exactly where, in my post, i have stated that weed has ever been legal in Holland ? And, with respect, it is you who has missed the point with both my opinion and the context in which it was expressed . Im also aware of a certain amount of arrogance demonstrated by yourself herein. I felt it both unnecessary and a little smug to reveal that i have actually lived in Amsterdam for a number of years and have had a connection with the city for something approaching 30 more. Your claim that ' tourists have screwed it up for those it was meant for' is disingenuous at best and flagrantly ignores the fact Coffeeshop owners have willingly exploited the tourist trade for a very long time.

 

[Gastro]

This article is still a bit premature. Yes, Minister of Security OPstelten wants to introduce the weedpass. There are however a couple of bumps on the road for our Minister of Security. They are holding a test trial in Maastricht to see if this plan is actually legal. However, High-Professors of Law have already stated that a National law for a weedpass would be impossible, because a National Law would state that marihuana would be legal to sell and buy weed for everyone with a Dutch nationality. Therefore it is possible that a certain system will be implemented but every city has to vote whether or not they would want to introduce this weedpass. So the weedpass might then be introduced in cities like Breda and Maastricht, but Rotterdam and Amsterdam would most probably not join in on the weedpass craze.

So nothing is actually sure, and as far as it looks now the plans might not be all that what it is supposed to be. All in all, it is mainly a lot of symbolic politics, that is going to help organized crime thrive even more!

 

[headbutt no1]

This is political chest beating.Politics in holland is very complex at the moment.First i dont think the weedcard will make it past a test trail it cuts far to close to some other dutch laws and there are always lawyers hungry to make a name for themselves.If you think im joking ask Soma or derry what it costs to employ a nationally known dutch lawyer.However even if it did pass it would be implemented on a city by city basis I hate to burst the bubble for all you Americans but the weedcard has nothing to do with your vacation in Amsterdam.The problems are all in the border towns where people flow over the borders with germany and belgium and stock up some of the coffeeshop guys down there are really taking the piss selling 60/80 keys in a weekend and it all leaves holland.Do you really think a country which is world famous for its econimists (the global downturn was first predicted by a dutch econimist)are going to damage the income of there capital i dont think so.I would also like to add that even if all weed biz ended in all of holland dont for one second think the dutch are going to go broke these people know money yes there music is shit there food is questionable at best but they are masters with money.

 

[Rednick]

there food is questionable at best

I like a sea of gravy, with a giant meatball and mashed potatoes.
The Dutch are first and foremost Traders.
Just someone higher up not getting his cut for those 60/80 keys a week.
Just like if DeBeers isn't getting it's cut of Africa(supply) or America(demand).
Shit rolls down hill.

An Englishman once told me, "the Dutch are very 'complicated' people'.
And that is true!
Your politics is, also.

 

[OGXHASHYGUY]

eh glad i went to the cup in amsterdam last november!..... we can get weed anywhere but imma miss the freedom of freely smoking in a coffeeshop so sad oh well guess ill just have to smoke my medicali weed oh well gonna have to start going to medical cups instead for vacation love the the dutch you will be missed !

 

[daoboxer]

EU = lets make things worst everywhere

another epic fail

=K

It's got absolutely nothing to do with the E.U. mate. You should know that, being part of it!
Holland, along with many other EU countries, is becoming more right-wing in the face of economic instability. It's the centre-right Dutch government to blame....I'm sure Brussels couldn't care less.
Peace.

 

[Strainhunter]

You will point out to me exactly where, in my post, i have stated that weed has ever been legal in Holland ? And, with respect, it is you who has missed the point with both my opinion and the context in which it was expressed . Im also aware of a certain amount of arrogance demonstrated by yourself herein. I felt it both unnecessary and a little smug to reveal that i have actually lived in Amsterdam for a number of years and have had a connection with the city for something approaching 30 more. Your claim that ' tourists have screwed it up for those it was meant for' is disingenuous at best and flagrantly ignores the fact Coffeeshop owners have willingly exploited the tourist trade for a very long time.

Weed IS illegal in the Netherlands hence the exploitation by coffee shop owners has been screwing it up for the locals for who the tolerated weed has been a tradition and way of life.


It would be a similar situation if out of state visitors would be screwing it up for state legal medical users in Cali IF dispensary owners would be selling to them.
And trust me most would sell to non med users if they dared to...but they know they are already walking a fine line with their businesses.
Yes businesses because although they are not allowed to most still make a profit. But that's a different subject there.


And why are you asking me to point out something I have made a general statement about? You got a weird way of understanding.

 

[narko]

.


It would be a similar situation if out of state visitors would be screwing it up for state legal medical users in Cali IF dispensary owners would be selling to them.

the thing is: there is no court(in holland) that ever said weed d be forbidden to sell to foreigners while on the other hand i think cali court said it d only be allowed to sell it medical users right?

 

[OGXHASHYGUY]

the thing is: there is no court(in holland) that ever said weed d be forbidden to sell to foreigners while on the other hand i think cali court said it d only be allowed to sell it medical users right?

well it was decriminalized in california anyways so even if you do get caught with some its a ticket fine so the risk here in california is minimal unless your the one growing all the shit then you can be in a bit of trouble ...local police where i live could give a rats ass if your smoking weed i got pulled over they took my car for out of date insurance i gave up my weed and they said "put that shit back in your pocket we dont care about that shit"...its the federal law that is being assholes here in california ....oh and the old dying out brainwashed generation that is complaining also...do you remember "reefer madness " thats on dumb ass movie and those generations grew up believing that crap ....top it off weed became illegal in the us for some racist ass beliefs thinking oh if we make it illegal all the blacks, mexicans and other minoritys will leave back to where they came from ...and they think stoners are dumb asses ! peace free freedom !

 

[Krull]

It's got absolutely nothing to do with the E.U. mate. You should know that, being part of it!
Holland, along with many other EU countries, is becoming more right-wing in the face of economic instability. It's the centre-right Dutch government to blame....I'm sure Brussels couldn't care less.
Peace.

The EU court gave dutch authorities the power to ban coffee shops from selling cannabis to tourists.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/16/maastricht-marijuana-tourism-eu

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/eu-court-backs-plan-coffeeshop-tourist-ban

=K

 

[poppers]

Looks like its time to move the 420 event to Prague !!

FYP

 

[Karma Genetics]

Not going to happen,

 

[Mukind]

And this just might be a dumb American point of view but wouldn't the Netherlands wanna tell the E.U. to fuck off just for pride in being a sovereign nation. Americans would be outraged that someone was telling us what do, even it was something as minor as only effecting tourists, especially if it hit someones bottom line haha. Best of luck Amsterdam hope they don't change before i get out there at least once.