The end of Amsterdam weekends?
Discussion
The end for stoners anyway...It would appear that the Dutch government are putting an end to the party 
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/05/28/2...
"Sorry, stoners.
The Dutch government said Friday that it will ban tourists from buying marijuana from the Netherlands' famed "coffee shops."
Under the new rules spearheaded by far-right political leaders, only Dutch citizens will be able to enter the stores, and they too will face tougher restrictions.
Resident patrons will be required to sign up for a one-year membership, and each shop will have a maximum of 1,500 members, according to a justice ministry spokesman.
Critics argue the move, which should be enacted by the end of the year, could pulverize tourism.
The Netherlands – particularly Amsterdam, which is home to 220 coffee shops -- is known for having one of Europe's most lenient soft drug policies. The country's cannabis cafes have become popular attractions.
There are also fears that the move will result in a black market for the drugs.
The coalition government, which came into power last year, announced the initiative to curb drug tourism as part of an effort to fight crime and promote health.
"In order to tackle the nuisance and criminality associated with coffee shops and drug trafficking, the open-door policy of coffee shops will end," Dutch health and justice ministers wrote in a letter to the country's parliament."
Maybe we should still go over there, but just all get pissed instead, see how they like them apples
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2011/05/28/2...
"Sorry, stoners.
The Dutch government said Friday that it will ban tourists from buying marijuana from the Netherlands' famed "coffee shops."
Under the new rules spearheaded by far-right political leaders, only Dutch citizens will be able to enter the stores, and they too will face tougher restrictions.
Resident patrons will be required to sign up for a one-year membership, and each shop will have a maximum of 1,500 members, according to a justice ministry spokesman.
Critics argue the move, which should be enacted by the end of the year, could pulverize tourism.
The Netherlands – particularly Amsterdam, which is home to 220 coffee shops -- is known for having one of Europe's most lenient soft drug policies. The country's cannabis cafes have become popular attractions.
There are also fears that the move will result in a black market for the drugs.
The coalition government, which came into power last year, announced the initiative to curb drug tourism as part of an effort to fight crime and promote health.
"In order to tackle the nuisance and criminality associated with coffee shops and drug trafficking, the open-door policy of coffee shops will end," Dutch health and justice ministers wrote in a letter to the country's parliament."
Maybe we should still go over there, but just all get pissed instead, see how they like them apples
Edited by Shuvi Tupya on Sunday 29th May 11:29
Frankly I don't blame them. There's tourism and then there's tourism. If the Dutch can deal with it perfectly well but all the Brits can do is binge embarassingly and make a mess of themselves and Amsterdam then it seems like a perfectly logical course of action.
Also - 'fears of forcing it underground' - well only for tourists it seems, and if they are the stoners in question they'll be used to getting their mitts on it that way anyway, so it's not like there'll be much overall difference.
Also - 'fears of forcing it underground' - well only for tourists it seems, and if they are the stoners in question they'll be used to getting their mitts on it that way anyway, so it's not like there'll be much overall difference.
Twincam16 said:
Frankly I don't blame them. There's tourism and then there's tourism. If the Dutch can deal with it perfectly well but all the Brits can do is binge embarassingly and make a mess of themselves and Amsterdam then it seems like a perfectly logical course of action.
Also - 'fears of forcing it underground' - well only for tourists it seems, and if they are the stoners in question they'll be used to getting their mitts on it that way anyway, so it's not like there'll be much overall difference.
Not much point in travelling to a foreign country to do something you can do just as legally at home though!Also - 'fears of forcing it underground' - well only for tourists it seems, and if they are the stoners in question they'll be used to getting their mitts on it that way anyway, so it's not like there'll be much overall difference.
Shuvi Tupya said:
Twincam16 said:
Frankly I don't blame them. There's tourism and then there's tourism. If the Dutch can deal with it perfectly well but all the Brits can do is binge embarassingly and make a mess of themselves and Amsterdam then it seems like a perfectly logical course of action.
Also - 'fears of forcing it underground' - well only for tourists it seems, and if they are the stoners in question they'll be used to getting their mitts on it that way anyway, so it's not like there'll be much overall difference.
Not much point in travelling to a foreign country to do something you can do just as legally at home though!Also - 'fears of forcing it underground' - well only for tourists it seems, and if they are the stoners in question they'll be used to getting their mitts on it that way anyway, so it's not like there'll be much overall difference.
It's not really my thing, granted, so I can see that others will have a different slant on it, but there are times when I see the wrecks made of our town and city centres by binge drinking and really wish the bar staff said 'no, get out of here' more often. Now imagine if Britain was the only country with 'liberal' (ie not liberal, missing the point of what liberalism actually is and just pandering to individualism under a liberalist guise in order to be popular) drinking laws and hordes of tourists came to visit with the express purpose of getting completely head-splittingly hammered on Carling before vomiting into a gutter, bothering some nightclub bouncers and wrecking their hotel room?
Yes, they bring some money into the country, but give it a seriously tarnished image abroad in the process. This group are being characterised as 'far-right', but it just sounds to me like they want to restore some national pride. Hopefully Prague will follow suit - another beautiful city currently being ruined by the lure of spannered Nuts-readers with handfuls of cash.
Shuvi Tupya said:
Now i see the problem TC, you are confusing stoners with drunks. When was the last time you saw a group of stoned people causing trouble, or even one stoned person causing trouble?
Shhh! This is a thread about evil druggies and right wing christian governments! Common sense has no place here!Personally I think this is a first step towards the recriminalisation of pot in Holland.
Step one ban it for non dutch citizens
Step two ban is challenged in EU court and found unlawful
Step three dutch govt say ok fine, we'll just recriminalise it and no one can smoke.
Every time a right wing govt has got into power its made noises about the pot culture in Amsterdam. It'll be interesting to see if this time, those noises actually translate into action.
Edited by Marf on Sunday 29th May 11:59
Marf said:
Shhh! This is a thread about evil druggies and right wing christian governments! Common sense has no place here!
Personally I think this is a first step towards the recriminalisation of pot in Holland.
Step one ban it for non dutch citizens
Step two ban is challenged in EU court and found unlawful
Step three dutch govt say ok fine, we'll just recriminalise it and no one can smoke.
Every time a right wing govt has got into power its made noises about the pot culture in Amsterdam. It'll be interesting to see if this time, those noises actually translate into action.
I really think they are shooting themselves in the foot, but you are probably right!Personally I think this is a first step towards the recriminalisation of pot in Holland.
Step one ban it for non dutch citizens
Step two ban is challenged in EU court and found unlawful
Step three dutch govt say ok fine, we'll just recriminalise it and no one can smoke.
Every time a right wing govt has got into power its made noises about the pot culture in Amsterdam. It'll be interesting to see if this time, those noises actually translate into action.
The Dutch govt are far more concerned that the Netherlands has become the European centre for the drug trade, which isn't the friendliest of businesses to be hosting. Armed shoot outs between East Europeans and swarthy mediteranean types may make for good movies, but now when the filming is in your back yard and they're using live ammo.
spikeyhead said:
The Dutch govt are far more concerned that the Netherlands has become the European centre for the drug trade, which isn't the friendliest of businesses to be hosting.
Making things illegal doesn't stop people doing it. There is quite a 'turf war' in North London between the Turks and the Albanians. As with the American gangs, they tend to leave the general population out of it but you wouldn't want to be caught in the middle.
Shuvi Tupya said:
Now i see the problem TC, you are confusing stoners with drunks. When was the last time you saw a group of stoned people causing trouble, or even one stoned person causing trouble?
Stoners are one of the biggest financers of organised crime. Of course they claim the law forces them to take cannabis. Although burglars never blame their selfishness on the Theft Act.
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