To quote an old song, "There is somethin' happening here and what it is, ain't exactly clear,", but the smoking times in AD are a'changing. From rumors on the internet about foreigners being excluded from entering coffeeshops to empirical evidence of increased "raids" of coffeeshops, it appears that there is indeed a move afoot among some elements in Dutch politics to curtail the use of herb in this beautiful country. The NRC Handelsblad had an atricle in yesterday's edition entitled, "Softdrugsbeleid wordt sluipenderwijs strenger", which translates roughly to "The soft drugs policy of tolerance becomes quietly more stringent." The article goes on to detail how some in the Dutch parliament would like to make smoking weed in public a punishable offense because the strong aroma is considered a nuisance by some.

http://www.nrc.nl/binnenland/artikel/1132293912862.html

I am not making this up. Folks, we are on a grassy but slippery slope over here. I've been visitng AD for 24 years (my anniversary was last week) and I must say that in the last 5 years, I've noticed this quiet crackdown, in ways that heretofore I was always able to shrug off because it didn't seem to affect me directly. I would come for two weeks, smoke my weed, go home, and the following year I'd come back and do it all again, no problems. But it has finally hit home, as I sit here at my desk, smoking a joint and looking out on to the Prinsengracht, that the winds of change are blowing, and not in the weed smokers direction.

What to do? One option is to conitnue to make our trips to AD and smoke our dope and then return home until the next vacation or holiday, or we can unite and make our voices heard. In the words of the poet, it is time to "Get up, stand up, stand up for your rights!" I suggest we weed tourists ban together and wield the only weapon we have, but it is a mighty weapon indeed -- money. We on this board come from all different walks of financial life, but one thing we do have in common is that we come to Amsterdam and we spend money on weed, but we also spend money on hotels, restaurants, bars, shopping, plane tickets, etc. I suggest we show our economic power by putting stamps of marijuania leaves on our euros before we spend them. I know the gay community has done something similar in the US to demonstrate their economic might. We can do the same thing, if we get off our stoned asses and do it!

This is the week of the Cannabis Cup in Amsterdam and in the States it is the week of Thanksgiving, but you don't have to be from any specific country to stop this week and give a heartfelt thanksgiving for the good things that are yours in life. Personally, I have a lot to be thankful for this week, things much bigger than smoking weed in a semi-legal enviorment. But with that said, smoking weed does enrich my life in great and wondrous ways and I for one am ready to fight for my rights to do something so relatively innocuous.

I think it was Horace, that great Roman philospher and son of a former slave, who said,
"You have to fight, for your right, to paaaaarty!"

Smokers of the world unite, all you have to lose are your chains....


hey children what's that sound?

Cracking down on pot when what they need to be cracking down on is immigration. Brilliant!

Maybe one of the local newspapers would be interested in running a story on the economic impact of smokers.

Can you imagine what would become of all the food vendors if they weined out all the guys with the munchies? All those falafel shops,, Renee's Pastries, Toasties,,, ugh!

Had an interesting chat with some coffeeshop weed tenders over the years, one of the most prolific statements I have ever heard regarding this issue is " I have never had to break up a fight in my coffeeshop between a couple of stoners,, thats why we don't serve alchohol"

Have had more issues with friends, aquaintences, girlfriends, and wives with booze and hard drugs than I ever will have with pot !

'foreigners being excluded from entering coffeeshops'

I've heard loads about this the last few weeks. The Sun newspaper did a big article on it a couple of weeks back (hardly a reliable paper though) Surely if this happened alot of coffeeshops would have to close?? How could they afford to stay open just serving to locals with all the money that the tourists bring to Dam? On another message board (smokers guide i think) Somone e-mailed the Greenhouse and they replied saying they had heard nothing of it... but it would not be possible by EU laws to ban somone from entering a Coffeeshop on the basis of Nationality.

It gives me a bad feeling when i keep hearing this rumour cropping up..... No smoke without fire as the saying goes.

Dam_04

"...the strong aroma is considered a nuisance by some."

Could they not make the same argument about tobacco, perfume and aftershave? What is the real issue here? There must be something else lurking behind this pathetically lame argument.

Once society has evolved to the semi- enlightened status that currently exists in the NL there is no turning back. What we currently have in place is a civilized , humaine system that works for everyone. Neither side has everything they want but the system works. If authorities try to fuck with the present system too much it will backfire on them.

If authorities try and force these activities out of public sight the result will be civil disobedience and widespread public smoking to protest these attempts at social control. If they try and limit sales to non EU citizens etc than there will be a huge visible black market on the streets Any new laws passed to try and move backwards will be disobeyed. I can't see the govt wanting to fight a soft drug war against its own citizens. To enforce any new laws such as no smoking in public are unrealistic, they don't have the man-power, time or motivation.

Anyway, unless they kick Nol out of the country and take away his passport I know he will always sell me kind grass and hash and provide me with a place to smoke it no matter what the laws say !!

I'm going to reintroduce this thread because I was disappointed with how little response it got initially.

It seems to be a little quiet on the board right now, just as it is along the canals of Amsterdam. If you ever want to have the city to yourself, come the week before Christmas and you'll get your wish.

By the way, Merry Christmas to you, if that's your bag, and to everyone on the board, have a Happy New Year. If you haven't already planned a trip for 2006 to our favorite city, give yourself a gift and book your trip today. It don't get any better than this!

Merry Xmas and a very Happy New Year to you aswell Luther!

The idea of a weed stamp on our euros is excellent. Have you mentioned this to any of the coffeeshop owners? They are the obvious places for distribution of the stamps.

Let us not stand like Nero and fiddle whilst Rome burns.

That's good chatter! Anyone else?

I would certainly endorse the stamp idea. While Amsterdam is charming and there are many cultural attractions to enjoy, the reason for my return is to sample coffeeshop culture. It would indeed be unfortunate for the Dutch government to quash the motivation for tourist to return again and again.
This being said, I just can’t get a grip on what is so scary about dope smokers. What invokes so much fear in those who oppose people who want to get a buzz on? There is a reasonable concern I guess about not wanting your cab driver or brain surgeon be stoned out of their minds while in the course of their duties. I just can’t find any reasonable necessity for society to spend so much time and resources to come down so hard on pot smoking. I do have idea why there is so much opposition at least in American society and I invite your response on the subject.
So here goes, the reason people fear is stoners in American society is because you can’t control them. You cannot convince them that instead of enjoying a smoke they should be working overtime to afford some over priced gadget. You can’t convince them if they eat meat on Friday they are destined for eternal damnation. You can’t manipulate fear and desire to motivate someone who has a feeling of bliss and well being. The rabid hatred of cannabis users from the political extremes and religious leaders is their sick desire to have everyone one follow what they believe is good for society. We all know that the true motivation is to get others to behave in a manner that will make them complaint.
The reasons are many and have been discussed before by members of this forum. What could be more boring than preaching to the choir? The idea of a stamp to demonstrate the economic impact of those who enjoy weed and a wonderful place to sample this gift of nature is great. Where can I get one?

Luther, and anyone else who find themselves in Amsterdam the first week in February, I would love to share a smoke and conversation in any of Amsterdam’s coffeeshops. It is 44 days until my return and it cannot come soon enough. Give me a shout out!

Seasons Greetings to all!

It's my understanding that coffeeshops that sell alcohol are going to have to make an alcohol/cannabis choice in the near future. Assuming that the majority will opt for cannabis, won't the loss of the high profit alcohol trade bring on a large increase in the price of weed?