So the Netherland is banning foreigners from buying weed.

[Fire Daemon]

It's obvious that the Dutch don't want it's tourism trade to be dominated by douche bag stoners who only value the country as a means to get wasted. I bet that they'd much rather people come to appreciate the windmills and the flowers. But here is the problem; the only people who give a shit about windmills and flowers are people stoned of their tits, so now no one is going to visit. Stupid Dutch.

But seriously though, having Weed legal in one nation, but illegal in the neighbouring nations, is going to cause problems for a lot of people. I have a feeling that this is a result of pressure from other members of the EU.

 

[kayisking]

I'm Dutch, so let me explain. We have immense amounts of trouble with the "drugstourism" each year. Seriously, these people are responsible for like 20 percent of all petty crimes in Holland. We have nothing against the drug itself, but the kind of people that come to our country in order to obtain it, are often not the most savory sort of individuals. We believe that if we make sure foreigners won't be able to obtain weed in our country, we'll have less of these idiots breaking shop windows and mugging people. Also, the European Union has been pressuring us to ban the drug completely, because people are importing it from the Netherlands to country's where weed is illigal. So we met them halfway by saying that we would'nt sell to foreigners anymore.

Ps. Please excuse my poor English, as earlier stated I am not a native speaker.

This argument seems reasonable to me. At least more so than it originally seemed. I really don't think The Netherlands should fold because the EU says though, very few countries in the EU actually care about their rules.

On a side note why is it that everyone who apologises for having "poor English" tends to form grammatically fine and well formed sentences, and make almost no typos? Seriously, it puts actual native English speakers to shame.

Believe me when I say that the European Union does care about this one. They've been moaning about it for years now.

Oh, and thanks for the compliment, it was quite hard to learn your language.

 

[gyroscopeboy]

does this affect hash cookies and space cake??

 

[mpia]

Hey everyone,
i'm gonna live in Amsterdam from August as a student and i would like to ask if anyone knows if i will be able to register at a coffee shop as a resident of the country or i have to be Dutch too. thanksss

 

[Kathinka]

I'm Dutch, so let me explain. We have immense amounts of trouble with the "drugstourism" each year. Seriously, these people are responsible for like 20 percent of all petty crimes in Holland. We have nothing against the drug itself, but the kind of people that come to our country in order to obtain it, are often not the most savory sort of individuals. We believe that if we make sure foreigners won't be able to obtain weed in our country, we'll have less of these idiots breaking shop windows and mugging people. Also, the European Union has been pressuring us to ban the drug completely, because people are importing it from the Netherlands to country's where weed is illigal. So we met them halfway by saying that we would'nt sell to foreigners anymore.

Ps. Please excuse my poor English, as earlier stated I am not a native speaker.

This argument seems reasonable to me. At least more so than it originally seemed. I really don't think The Netherlands should fold because the EU says though, very few countries in the EU actually care about their rules.

On a side note why is it that everyone who apologises for having "poor English" tends to form grammatically fine and well formed sentences, and make almost no typos? Seriously, it puts actual native English speakers to shame.

Believe me when I say that the European Union does care about this one. They've been moaning about it for years now.

Oh, and thanks for the compliment, it was quite hard to learn your language.

very true about the EU. they almost freaked out when we legalized pot for personal consumption a few years back in the czech republic. since then trey tried to get us to backpedal.

only that we don't give a damn about what the union says sometimes^^

 

[kayisking]

I'm Dutch, so let me explain. We have immense amounts of trouble with the "drugstourism" each year. Seriously, these people are responsible for like 20 percent of all petty crimes in Holland. We have nothing against the drug itself, but the kind of people that come to our country in order to obtain it, are often not the most savory sort of individuals. We believe that if we make sure foreigners won't be able to obtain weed in our country, we'll have less of these idiots breaking shop windows and mugging people. Also, the European Union has been pressuring us to ban the drug completely, because people are importing it from the Netherlands to country's where weed is illigal. So we met them halfway by saying that we would'nt sell to foreigners anymore.

Ps. Please excuse my poor English, as earlier stated I am not a native speaker.

This argument seems reasonable to me. At least more so than it originally seemed. I really don't think The Netherlands should fold because the EU says though, very few countries in the EU actually care about their rules.

On a side note why is it that everyone who apologises for having "poor English" tends to form grammatically fine and well formed sentences, and make almost no typos? Seriously, it puts actual native English speakers to shame.

Believe me when I say that the European Union does care about this one. They've been moaning about it for years now.

Oh, and thanks for the compliment, it was quite hard to learn your language.

very true about the EU. they almost freaked out when we legalized pot for personal consumption a few years back in the czech republic. since then trey tried to get us to backpedal.

only that we don't give a damn about what the union says sometimes^^

What can I say, we Dutch have always been of a diplomatic sort. We're good at making deals that benfit both party's.

 

[gyroscopeboy]

hey as long as there's still live sex shows its all good!

 

[Ramin 123]

Well, it isn't technically legal for anyone to buy weed in the Netherlands, they signed the UN resolution in '61, banning cannabis, after all.

I'm Dutch, so let me explain. We have immense amounts of trouble with the "drugstourism" each year. Seriously, these people are responsible for like 20 percent of all petty crimes in Holland. We have nothing against the drug itself, but the kind of people that come to our country in order to obtain it, are often not the most savory sort of individuals. We believe that if we make sure foreigners won't be able to obtain weed in our country, we'll have less of these idiots breaking shop windows and mugging people. Also, the European Union has been pressuring us to ban the drug completely, because people are importing it from the Netherlands to country's where weed is illigal. So we met them halfway by saying that we would'nt sell to foreigners anymore.

Ps. Please excuse my poor English, as earlier stated I am not a native speaker.

I do sympathise with the sentiment to get rid of drugtourism-- that must be a real pain to put up with, but for me as a European, the issue of Netherland being liberal is more important than cannabis. I do realise it's an image; in fact most Dutch I've met are pretty conservative, but as a bastion of freedom the Netherlands has a very important symbolic value to the rest of us. Not on a political level, I mean on an individual level; for the citizens of the European countries it is important to feel that there is somewhere that freedom can be had.

It's perhaps an outdated view, and probably incorrect in so many ways, but if the thought-police show up, at least you can flee to the Netherlands where free-thinkers are accepted. Perhaps promoting other liberal (in the non-economic sense!) ideals could shift the focus from cannabis to why the Netherlands has that relaxed stance in the first place; that of collective responsibility and freedom.

Also, the claims that the Netherlands export lots of weed is bogus-- propaganda from the absolutists in Brussels. From what I've read in British (and other) journals of criminology, most European states are now (21st century) self-sustaining when it comes to cannabis. The British Journal of Criminolgy even stated that the U.K is the largest producer of (illegal) cannabis in Europe. I would be guessing that's in fact Germany, though, seing as they are the most populous and have grow shops in lots and lots of places.

Response to your second paragraph, the threat to the freedom of the people is constant and George Orwell's vision is as relevant today(if not more than his time) as any age before.

 

[thefrizzlefry]

You know, I'm not one of those people who had planned on going over to Amsterdam just to get stoned off my tits and bang hookers, but I had always respected Amsterdam for not succumbing to the hysteria surrounding those issues and governing by logic. After reading this? Yeah, not so much. Seriously, I get that "bro"-type people are annoying and think they can handle shit that they clearly cannot, but come on, Amsterdam. Not all foreigners are chavs or frat bros!

 

[Knusper]

Also, having memberships necessary for Dutch nationals is a bit silly, it jut restricts the amount of cannabis going to poor people, which is not exactly fair. I'm sorry to say this Holland, but with all due respect, I think this is not going to go down well with the tourist industry.

 

[Thetwistedendgame]

Oh come on. I'm from the Netherlands, and I know exactly why we forbid you for getting our weed. We got enough adicts here as it is. Seriously, if you want to smoke crack, at least don't make it our crack. Because we have enough problems as it is.

 

[Booze Zombie]

Isn't this a massive, massive threat to tourism in the Netherlands?
There's no way....

I just don't get it. What is the advantage of illegalising it? Tourism will go down, crime will rise, and it won't stop anyone from getting it.

Colour me confused.

And now I have nothing to contribute except claims of "ninja".

 

[godofallu]

Isn't the point of that country to have ridiculous and barbaric laws that make things that should be illegal, legal?

I mean the entire point is to set up a place that is fun to visit for a week or two, but a bad place to live.

They can't change the rules now! It's been established that Amsterdam is the worldwide center for depravity and lunacy. You remove the drugs and what's left? Well whores, but still.

I see Amsterdam as that weird guy tied to a tree. It's kind of interesting that someone is willing to throw away their life to save the tree, but I sure don't want to. Let them tie themselves to pot, because I have better things to do. Maybe i'll even visit the tree one day, but I sure as hell wont live in it.

 

[Booze Zombie]

This just in, Dutch tourist economy crashes!

 

[Tizzmarelda]

Hey everyone,
i'm gonna live in Amsterdam from August as a student and i would like to ask if anyone knows if i will be able to register at a coffee shop as a resident of the country or i have to be Dutch too. thanksss

At the moment i think anyone is eligable for the passes. The thing of it is that coffee shops will be more inclined to give passes to locals as appose to a tourist visiting for a week. Hope i see you in the Dam

 

[Altorin]

I feel sorry for people that need to take a huge trip just to enjoy a little herb. The idea of drug tourism saddens me deeply. Maybe it's just because I'm in BC and weed is only ever a phonecall away (It's not as "accepted" as in the Netherlands perhaps, but it's plenty prevalent), but it saddens me that there are places in the world where you have to cross national borders just to enjoy something as relatively harmless and enjoyable as weed.

I can't really blame the Netherlands for their views, although I disagree with any prohibition of weed. Other countries making weed illegal (and truly so) give it a criminal element, so all weed users are criminals, and it's hard to weed out the casual users with the criminals who happen to enjoy the drug, so you'll get unsavory criminal types in with the regular joes who just like to get a little high. They want to keep the former out but they're throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

the core of the "drug-tourism" problem is draconian laws in other countries that are completely unfounded. Without those laws, people wouldn't need to travel to the netherlands for enjoyment, and the criminal element would almost completely disappear - I mean who bootlegs tobacco or alcohol these days? Noone. There's no money in it. Legalize weed and the same thing will happen, eventually criminal elements will migrate back to criminal things because they're criminals and everyone else can be left the fuck alone.

Isn't the point of that country to have ridiculous and barbaric laws that make things that should be illegal, legal?

I mean the entire point is to set up a place that is fun to visit for a week or two, but a bad place to live.

They can't change the rules now! It's been established that Amsterdam is the worldwide center for depravity and lunacy. You remove the drugs and what's left? Well whores, but still.

I see Amsterdam as that weird guy tied to a tree. It's kind of interesting that someone is willing to throw away their life to save the tree, but I sure don't want to. Let them tie themselves to pot, because I have better things to do. Maybe i'll even visit the tree one day, but I sure as hell wont live in it.

first of all, it's all still technically illegal there. Secondly I imagine Amsterdam is a wonderful place to live, you just wouldn't want to necessarily live in the red light district (which is true of every city on earth). There are whores in every city on earth. The big thing with the Netherlands is they don't tend to get into their peoples personal business, but it's not like the country is falling apart because of it. If anything, it proves that a liberal society in terms of personal freedom is viable.

 

[The Zango]

I was going to go there next year for my 18th! Sons of bitches!

 

[Kopikatsu]

Thought of the day: Have you ever noticed that when something is being banned or restricted, the abuse of said item often increases?

The forbidden fruit effect. You tell someone they can't have something, chances are they will want it more. All humans are greedy and stubborn bastards, some more than others. Why do you think America has a huge drug problem?

One word. Prohibition.

Anyway, I think people vastly overstate the 'forbidden fruit effect', or I'm just one of the special people who isn't affected. When I'm told 'Don't do drugs because your body will fuck up big time', then I don't do drugs.

Anywho...banning foreigners from getting marijuana will create a black market, which will give the cops something to do. Everyone wins! Especially the cops! They get a bonus based on how many arrests, tickets, and contraband they obtain, yanno.

 

[Death_Korps_Kommissar]

Good riddance, you know how annoying those people are? I live in holland and believe me outside of holiday seasons those coffeeshops are a great place to just get a little high and have a good time, kinda like you're average bar. In the holiday season on the other side they're filled with assholes who think that just because they can legally get high they can do anything to anyone everywhere.

Oh well thank you forblumping me in with the assholes sir/madam.
I'm a quiet, non violent Irish boy who was going to visit your fine city for the canals, people and weed. Okay I'll admit the cannabis is the main reason I'm going, it is for a lot of people, but it is a sense of unusual wonder and mystery that I want to go to. I'm sorry so many shitheads end up in your country but I don't see why nice people should suffer from a few asses :/