Comments on: Dutch government scraps "weed cards" - foreigners will still be able to smoke weed in Amsterdam's "coffee shops"

By: Mike Brinn

Mike Brinn — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 01:56:00 +0000

Don’t knoe if the Dutch have “lobbies” like we do in the US, but i see the hand of the powerful Beer Lobby in all this.

A friend and his wife visited Netherlands in 1967. She had tasted Häagen-Dazs ice cream, a new brand at the time, and wanted to visit the factory. They spent a couple of weeks scouring both Holland and Denmark before discovering that it was made in the Bronx, NY. Amazing the havoc a bit of weed and a perfect confection can wreak on travel plans. Wouldn’t have happened if they had stuck to beer.

By: BillStewart2012

BillStewart2012 — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 20:53:00 +0000

There are towns along one of the Dutch borders (German?) that did want to stop cannabis tourism, because they were tired of dealing with tourists driving across the border, getting stoned, and making a nuisance of themselves. (And while CW may find this surprising, the Dutch have their percentage of stuffy anti-fun people just like anywhere else, and stoned tourists can be almost as much trouble as drunks.)

Also, I’ve heard that the NL banned psychedelic mushrooms because some tourist got himself killed doing something stupid while tripping; don’t know if that was just a threat or if it went through. (Due to various anti-drug treaties, “manufacturing” drugs based on the mushrooms was illegal, even just drying them, but growing the raw mushrooms wasn’t.)

By: C W

C W — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 16:25:00 +0000

I’m sure this had less to do with internal forces than foreign pressure.

By: Ernesto Beckeringh

Ernesto Beckeringh — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 15:11:00 +0000

Don’t be too quick to start lighting them up.
First of all, this news probably came from remarks the Amsterdam mayor made yesterday, which have been played down already by the Dutch Justice dpt.
Second, in event foreigners will be allowed to buy weed, the existing coffeeshops will continue to be burdened by tougher requirements (concerning quality of weed, i.e. relative THC volumes, sales to minors, proximity to schools etc), leading to more closures, while new coffeeshops will not be allowed to be established.
But in any case this situation is a lot better than the original weed-pass plans.

By: Nash Rambler

Nash Rambler — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:29:00 +0000

Someone’s ears must’ve perked up and heard the steady march of tourist dollars (yeah yeah, I meant guilder. . .wait, no, I mean Euro, don’t I?) away from the city.

By: Thomas Rhys Marshall

Thomas Rhys Marshall — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 09:23:00 +0000

On the surface this seems like good news for weed tourists and coffeeshop owners, and even the Dutch press have been reporting it like this. But the actual text of the coalition agreement is quite ambiguous. In principle, drugs tourism is still prohibited under the new agreement. They’ve just moved the goalposts by requiring everyone who enters a coffeeshop present a proof of Dutch residency, instead of a pass.
It seems like the anti-weedpass crowd (which includes the mayor of Amsterdam) are relying on a clause in the agreement which says that enforcement of this residency requirement will be phased in ‘in co-operation with local municipalities and law enforcement’. I think they’re basically hoping that the national government allows them to turn a blind eye to it. Whether that happens in practice remains to be seen.

By: Nathan Hornby

Nathan Hornby — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 08:51:00 +0000

Stupid law, surprisingly outcome.

Having been to Amsterdam a couple of times anyone that thinks that weed is a problem is obviously very very drunk.

I always suspected it was outside pressure though I could be wrong.

By: Alain Van der Eycken

Alain Van der Eycken — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 08:07:00 +0000

Best News in a long time.
Away with those crap selling criminal drugdealers along the Maas in Maastricht. Back under your rocks, creeps !
Super !

By: niktemadur

niktemadur — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 04:58:00 +0000

So our trip to Amsterdam is back on, right?

A few years ago, my wife and I, along with a friend of ours, arrived late at night into Amsterdam from Brussels, by car.
At an intersection in the old town, a group of people walked across in front of us, they were obviously dazed & confused and quite happy, thank you very much. Damned hippies…
Twenty four hours later, it was THE THREE OF US walking across the same intersection, dazed & confused and quite happy, thank you very much.

Back in the hotel room, “A Streetcar Named Desire” was on the TV. My god, the contrast between old school mannerism (Vivien Leigh) and new school intensity (Brando) is INCREDIBLE. Have you ever noticed that? I hadn’t.

By: rain_globule

rain_globule — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 04:28:00 +0000

“What is all this damn tourism? We need to put a stop to it!”

By: mrtut

mrtut — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 23:40:00 +0000

Dutch weed passes, to the left hand side.

By: sam1148

sam1148 — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 23:29:00 +0000

This is good news for….oh look candy.

By: acerplatanoides

acerplatanoides — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 22:57:00 +0000

It’s good that the law took this hit. I’m sure people were holding their breath.