Dutch drug policy to favour locals: insiders
The government\'s new stance towards soft drugs remains tolerant towards local users, but coffee shops would no longer be tourist attractions.
The Hague -- Coffee shops may soon be off limits to tourists, reports the ANP news agency Tuesday.
In the government\'s revised drug policy, tolerance for soft-drug use would continue to apply to coffee shops serving a limited local market, but the rules will change for foreigners, inside sources told the ANP.
Ministers will officially discuss changes to the drug policy Friday.
Since 1976, the purchase of small amounts of cannabis through coffee shops has been permitted in the Netherlands, while cultivation and mass retail remained forbidden.
The nearly 700 coffee shops country-wide are allowed to keep no more than 500 grammes (about 17 ounces) on site, according to the French news agency AFP.
A commission was formed in early 2009 to examine the current policy and develop recommendations that will form the basis of Friday\'s discussion.
Soft-drug use in the Netherlands has been hotly debated since the government decided to re-evaluate its policies.
On one hand, some government officials believe the current lax policy has let the crime situation in the Netherlands ?get out of hand? over the past 15 years, according to a report on nu.nl.
Several border cities, including Roosendaal and Bergen-op-Zoom, announced in March the closure from September of all eight of their coffee shops in a bid to curb the "nuisance" of 25,000 drug tourists per week, the AFP reported in July.
However, there is much disagreement on the subject.
"Prohibiting cannabis has undesirable effects: it promotes trafficking, criminality, a black market economy and a poor quality product," Jacqueline Woerlee, a spokeswoman for the Association for the Abolition of Cannabis Prohibition, told AFP during the 10th annual Global Marijuana March in May 2009.
The commission has said it supported neither the banning nor the full legalisation of cannabis.
An official government policy paper is expected autumn 2009.
Jennifer Evans / Expatica
This is not exactly news, as this has been slowly happening since consevatives won parliment there in 2008, however it does not bode well for the shining-star of controlled use.
Since drug tourists are a major source of income for the Netherlands, I don\'t see them being banned from smart shops. Plus that would be unfair, a store with a sign saying "No Foreigners Allowed" would be like segregation in the US was.
Most of those coffee shops sell their ganja to tourists at custie prices anyway. I doubt you even get to see the primo nuggets a lot of the time unless you speak Dutch.
I saw primo nuggets.
And I spoke English.
Yea what were they charging though?
I haven\'t been myself but friends have told me they get better headies around here for cheaper. (that\'s not an advertisement
)
Yea what were they charging though?
I haven\'t been myself but friends have told me they get better headies around here for cheaper. (that\'s not an advertisement )
Too bad it wasn\'t...
Have I gotten better headies around here? Yes.
Were they cheaper? Propbably (15 E for a gram?)
Was it a better experince? I doubt it.
The cafes are along a sleepy cannal with all its sights and sounds. You can also look into the train yard next to the "central" train station. I am a bit of a train nut so watching this kalediscope of train cars, old and new, rush by, compined with the jet lag, made it a great experince.
It would probably get expensive/old if I was there for more than 16 hours. I went early enough in the morning (11am) that most of the places were just opening, so they were pretty much all empty and those who were there weren\'t really there.
Most of those coffee shops sell their ganja to tourists at custie prices anyway. I doubt you even get to see the primo nuggets a lot of the time unless you speak Dutch.
Honestly if I could walk in to any store pay $$ and not have to worry about getting busted they can charge me whatever.
Can\'t put a price on that really.
Was reading yesterday that a lot of the co-ops from cali are trying to set up shop in colobrahdo. I guess CO is trying to make the zoning / licensing smoother.
i was there for the 4th of July 2 years ago, GREAT TIME! you can just sit on the front patio of the shops, enjoy and watch people walk by.... prices where the same minus the euro/dollar conversion but then again i went at the worse point of our economic down turn so i was getting screwed 2:1 but whatever, you only live once and it\'s only money. toy wouldn\'t have anything negative to say if you\'ve been there. i\'m trying to plan to get back in a year or two. England for a football match>Netherlands to vacation for a couple days and Ireland to round everything off and come home.
i\'ve been twice. both times for a few nights. last time was for the moe. shows in november 2008. soooo much fun both times. you never need more than 2 or 3 days there. great to extend a layover on the way to somewhere else. always best to not fly back to the U.S. straight from there.
10 - 15 euro for headies, but the hash selection is really where its at. that is the novelty.
they started cracking down in late 2007 early 2008 by separating the liquor licenses and coffee shop permits. when i was first there in 2002 you could order a beer and then buy weed. the city\'s goal in late 2008 was to reduce the number of shops down to about 200ish - a much more reasonable number to regulate and control. i see more the public issues coming from drunks in the redlight district though. its pretty deboucherous and rowdy in that area.
one of my favorite things to do anywhere though is to go into a coffee shop, buy some smoke, roll a spliff, and then play foosball all afternoon. that is the life! i would hate to lose that ability!
someday i will go there (hopefully soon) just to try original haze...and maybe send a cut or two back to the states;)
the ideal to send back are grams of hash, pounded flat, and put in a birthday card, in another birthday card and mail it back. letter size mail is not inspected.
if anyone needs my address....