Posted on 05/24/2005 8:34:12 AM PDT by missyme
Tourists hoping to buy a cannabis joint in Dutch coffee shops could be in for a rude awakening this year under a test plan to curb drug tourism.
Soft drugs are legally banned in the Netherlands but under its policy of "tolerance", people are allowed to have less than 5 grams of cannabis in their possession.
Government-regulated coffee shops can hold a stock of up to 500 grams. In Context Amsterdam Trip: A policy of tolerance in the Netherlands has created an indifferent view of marijuana and one of the lowest pot-smoking rates in the industrialized world.
"We are developing a system whereby people not registered in the Netherlands will not be allowed into coffee shops," Justice Ministry spokesman Ivo Hommes said.
A pilot project will start up in Maastricht, on the southern tip of the Netherlands.
"We want to do this to combat drugs tourism and should be able to start the project this summer," he said.
Maastricht, bordering Germany and Belgium, attracts the largest number of tourists in the Netherlands after Amsterdam.
They include an estimated 1.5 million drug tourists, the city's Mayor Gerd Leers said on Friday at a conference on tackling the cross-border soft drugs problem.
Some 400,000 cannabis smokers live in the Netherlands, where they can openly buy and smoke the drug, to the ire of neighbouring countries. The Dutch population is 16 million.
The centre-right government now wants to curb drugs tourism, in part due to pressure from its European partners.
The number of coffee shops has been cut to 754 nationwide in 2003 from 1,200 in 1997, according to the latest figures from the Netherlands Trimbos institute for addiction studies.
The Government also hopes to stub out the illegal growing of hemp plants and sale of soft drugs by criminal groups.
"As member of parliament in The Hague, I thought it was possible to get rid of cannabis by taking hard measures. But after having been mayor of Maastricht for three years I see that it does not work," Mr Leers said.
"It's a 'water bed effect' if you push down on one part the problems pop up somewhere else," he said. Coffee? In the Netherlands, 'coffee shop' usually refers to an establishment where soft drugs can be bought and used. Most such shops also provide coffee, juices, or health food. If you prefer a more traditional coffee experience, look for a 'koffie huis' (coffee house).
He said the tough approach did not work, likening it to the prohibition of alcohol in the United States in the 1920s, which he said was a "a textbook example of a failed experiment in social engineering".
Maastricht, which has about a dozen authorised coffee shops, is discussing details of the pilot with the Justice Ministry, which could involve user registration and identification.
But coffee shops fear the rules will create more problems and chase buyers into the illegal circuit.
"If coffee shops have to carry out controls at the door, people who don't want to register will turn to the illegal circuit. We think nuisance will only increase," the chairman of the association of official coffee shops of Maastricht, Marc Josemans, told the conference.
"Legalise it," was his suggestion.
But the War On some Drugs Warrior keep telling us that if pot is legalized the entire country will become pot heads living in their parents basements. They wouldn't lie to us would they?
I'd like to see rigorous proof of this statement.
Well out of 16 Million people, only 400,000 are regular Pot Smokers.
I imagine the ones that might use Pot like a person that takes an aspirin once in awhile for a headache were not counted.
Pot is just as bad as the "establishment" has suggested. You sit thery and say it should be legalized. Absolutly not!!! There is a "social contract"n this county and unless that is completely dissolved then pot or any other "narcotic" should remain illegal.
Last time I was in Amsterdam (mid 80's), the square in front of our hotel was full of tripped out -possibly homeless because they were so dirty - druggies. Ungh. My mother was afraid to walk anywhere near them, and she vowed never to go back.
I suppose the Millions of Americans that are currently taking Anti-depressants are not a problem?
Pot is not the Devil Drug but if you abuse it as people that abuse food and alcohol then it will be.
Sounds like a good way for the Dutch govt. to generate some revenue....legalise and tax it.
I had no idea you liked to smoke a joint!
What would be 'rigorous proof'?
The same could be said for the Skid Row Alcoholic Bums....
Saying people that smoke Pot are going to turn into full blown *druggies* is like saying a person that drinks Alcohol will eventually become a full blown *Alcoholic*
Take your 'social contract', roll it and smoke it.
HAHA...NO don't smoke currently! but I did a while back when I had insomnia really bad, I refused to take Ambien or the other Sleeping Meds out there, so I went nature's route! :)
Worse then alcohol?
Baaad girl! Incoming spanks!
HAHA..Hey it gave me a GOOD NIGHT SLEEP! with Champagne wishes and Caviar dreams! :)
Is this 'social contract' the same one Hillary is going to use to take stuff away from me "For the common good"?
I use your social contract for toilet paper.
And you know this how exactly?
There is a "social contract"n this county and unless that is completely dissolved
Really, I have not signed one. Can you tell me where I can find this contract? You might want to read your own tag line before making a statment like this.
Yeah. There is a "social contract." Here is is: You go to work, be a productive citizen, support yourself, don't become a burden on society, don't expect any handouts, don't disturb the peace, and don't interfere with anybody else's rights. In return, society agrees to leave you alone to pursue your personal growth and happiness, which DEFINITELY includes your self-evident right to ingest whatever substances you want along the way, so long as you don't harm others or become a drain on the public treasury in the process.
Laws against pot are a travesty, and should not be tolerated in a free society. I can't stand social engineering "conservatives" who apparently don't understand the most basic principles of liberty.
Did George W. Bush ever smoke a joint in his life? We know he did. Maybe he should have been thrown in jail for five years, like the kid I went to college with in the '60s who got busted for smoking pot in upstate New York. Society would have been much better off, wouldn't it?
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