1. As of July 1, the Netherlands will ban smoking in public places.
2. The smoking of cannabis and hashish, however, will be allowed, at least in licensed cafes.
3. The regulation will be that adding tobacco to the smoke (a popular practice) will be forbidden and that only "pure pot" will be allowed.
4. It is noted that "This year, the Chinese have started to come."
That is from "What are the Dutch Smoking," in the 30 June 2008 issue of Business Week. Here is one related article.
There is a licensed cafe literally right across the street from my home in The Hague (I am looking over the top of my computer at it right now). I’ve been interested in how the cannabis/tobacco ban will affect their sales. It appears to be one of their top-selling products, and the cafe does a very brisk business overall. Given that one can purchase pre-rolled joints of the pure and blended variety or loose marijuana, the ban would seem pretty easy to skirt: just buy the loose stuff and some papers and roll your own. This being Holland, the expectation would be that enforcement will be virtually non-existent. It seems likely that the smoking ban will have little or no effect on the cafe other than to shift the proportion of sales from pre-rolled blends to do-it-yourself materials. Feel free to consider me the Holland bureau chief if you want an update.
I’m curious as well about the unintended consequences that could flow from the ban (Alex’s definition of a simple system trying to regulate a complex one would seem to apply). Perhaps awnings, heat lamps, and outdoor seating will increase? Conversion of restaurants into dining clubs? One thing is clear: the Dutch like to smoke.
Pre-ban in the Netherlands, the approach to where you smoked pot was very practical (IMHO). Smoking pot in coffee shops (or some bars) or your hotel room/private home was tolerated. The Dutch didn’t want people smoking on the streets / out in public. You respect us, then we will respect you.
Initially the smoking ban was to also include coffee shops, but the gov didnt want people (tourists) smoking in public so coffee shops were made exempt.
This law may also include hotels (so you are not allowed to smoke in your hotel room?). I dont know the status of this, and it could cause problems (for tourists) if implemented. Some hotels in the Netherlands are already (pre-ban) 100% smoke free.
If you do get stuck on where to smoke some pot, be respectful. (Most Dutch dont smoke pot)
As far as tobacco goes, the Dutch love to smoke and they dont like being told what to do in their private lives. Its going to be interesting to see how well this will be enforced.
The Netherlands has a LOT more to offer than pot. The Dutch are very friendly, have a very rich culture and there is so much to see and do. There are lots of great cities to visit, and the public transport system is excellent (and cheap – but the Dutch would disagree!).
@ Enrique: Actually in my town (Urbana, IL) there are (new) laws that ban buses and trucks from idling for more than a minute or so…
According to Dutch friend, the country has been moving in the past 10 years, on many fronts, towards a more restrictive Drug policy (especially in Amsterdam where locals are beginning to believe that the tourist dollars aren’t worth having to put up with the druggie tourists).
Legal weed is a symbol of “Enlightened Dutch Tolerance” in the same way that the Statue of Libery is a symbol of “United States openness to immigrants”.
Anti-immigration xenophobes in the U.S. don’t want to tear down the Statue of Liberty, even though in reality they oppose everything it represents, because it is such a powerful national symbol.
Likewise, the Dutch who support nannie-state totalitarianism like smoking bans still can’t bear to outright reject such a powerful national symbol of Dutch tolerance like legalized marijuana.
the amazing von bakel sums up…
http://www.bakelblog.com/nobodys_business/2008/06/pot-shots-hol-1.html
I don’t think it is smart to ban smoking marijuana in their country.Because their economy is based on the consumption of marijuana and different products obtained from marijuana.There for if they ban marijuana their economy will suffer a big fall.Cannabis Seeds
Comments on this entry are closed.