Just got back from spending several days in Maastricht. Upon arrival in Maastricht we found all coffeeshops to be closed. The newspaper was reporting that only half of the shops were closed but the fact is they were all shuttered. They are awaiting yet another ruling from a judge but I tell ya it does not sound good for the future of coffeeshops.

The closing of shops did increase the street dealers,mostly Moroccans hanging out along the river and strangely at McDonalds. All the reports we heard was Amsterdam is next in line. I really hope this does not go thru but I did not like the vibe I was getting from the locals in Maastricht.

They did say that they were going to try to introduce new menu items....


The place is going to turn into Copenhagen now, after they closed Cristiania

You know how bad that's turning out...

Best Regards

Smuler

Thanks for the update Block. Very sad to see the coffeeshops go the way of the dodo in Mastricht. Somehow I was hoping this anti-marijuana hysteria would fizzle out. Seems that is not the case. I am going over for 10 days prior to the Belgium Grand Prix so my experience will be a bit diminished with the coffeeshop closures. To be honest, getting a buzz on was never a motivation to travel to the NL. I can find good pot and naughty girls right here in Indy. What I cannot find is all the other groovy things about the Limburg area I enjoy. Having the experience of getting stoned in coffeeshops has been done to death by me. I am sure the end result of all of this will be far worse than any problems the coffeeshops have caused. Block, just like in Texas and Indiana, politics have been taken over by the willfully ignorant. Again, fear and bigotry have successfully bamboozled the electorate. What is more disturbing is that the Dutch people are permitting this to happen to their politics. The world is growing colder.

The anticipation of my upcoming trip to see my third Belgium Grand Prix grows a bit everyday. Spa, the race, the Ardennes and countryside have provided for me great memories.

Gilby

I am heading to Maastricht for an evening in mid-September and was hoping to have a bit of an adventure. Probably not so fun anymore, but the pubs will be nice I am sure.