Netherlands to close Cannabis outlets to tourists.

ArmaniJeanss

Daroxtar wrote: »

TBH, the new law won't be passed as it discriminates against non-Dutch citizens. The EU won't allow that.

Nope, the European Court of Justice have already decided that its a perfectly ok law.:(
The Dutch Government went the EU route to get it clarified, before starting the process in their own parliament.

http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/eu-court-dutch-can-ban-foreign-drugs-tourists

AnalogueKid

This story has every prohibitionist smugly wagging their fingers as if to suggest the Dutch are taking a harsher line on cannabis. Not so, they're simply proposing that coffee shops become members-only establishments. A foreigner resident in the Netherlands would be able to become a member. Their view of cannabis itself has not changed.

Focusing entirely on the Dutch laws regarding cannabis clouds the issue somewhat. There are several European countries which have decriminalised cannabis for personal use, and more importantly, several which allow limited cultivation of the cannabis plant for personal use. The political momentum within the EU overall is heading towards decriminalisation, not introducing more draconian measures.

Anyway, it'll still be very easy for a tourist to get cannabis in Amsterdam if these new policies are introduced. People who enjoy discretely lighting up whilst on holidays will perhaps now go to Prague, Berlin, Madrid, Lisbon, Istanbul, Copenhagen, Zurich or Brussels - all places where you can safely score a bit of decent weed or hash within a couple of hours of arrival. We'll then see how the Dutch react to that. Make no mistake, this will hugely affect tourist numbers to Amsterdam.

HavingCrack

Daroxtar wrote: »

TBH, the new law won't be passed as it discriminates against non-Dutch citizens. The EU won't allow that.
/End of racist law being pushed by Right-wing Christian dry sh!tes

The EU has no laws relating to cannabis. In fact they specifically say its up to each member state to create the laws to deal with the issue as they see fit. There's no discrimination case to answer according to the EU.

Wrighty82

In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who sings
Of the dreams that he brings
From the wide open sea
In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who sleeps
While the riverbank weeps
With the old willow tree
In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who dies
Full of beer, full of cries
In a drunken down fight
And in the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who's born
On a muggy hot morn
By the dawn's early light
In the port of Amsterdam
Where the sailors all meet
There's a sailor who eats
Only fishheads and tails
He will show you his teeth
That have rotted too soon
That can swallow the moon
That can haul up the sails
And he yells to the cook
With his arms open wide
Bring me more fish
Put it down by my side
Then he wants so to belch
But he's too full to try
So he gets up and laughs
And he zips up his fly
In the port of Amsterdam
You can see sailors dance
Paunches bursting their pants
Grinding women to paunch
They've forgotten the tune
That their whiskey voice croaks
Splitting the night with the
Roar of their jokes
And they turn and they dance
And they laugh and they lust
Till the rancid sound of
The accordion bursts
Then out to the night
With their pride in their pants
With the slut that they tow
Underneath the street lamps
In the port of Amsterdam
There's a sailor who drinks
And he drinks and he drinks
And he drinks once again
He drinks to the health
Of the whores of Amsterdam
Who have promised their love
To a thousand other men
They've bargained their bodies
And their virtue long gone
For a few dirty coins
And when he can't go on
He plants his nose in the sky
And he wipes it up above
And he pisses like I cry
For an unfaithful love
In the port of Amsterdam
In the port of Amsterdam

See Jacques Brel found loads to do there not involving Mr Weed and his cronies Lady Hooker and Dr Coke!

conorhal

Mike 1972 wrote: »

No need to panic just yet. The laws in question are still only proposals which (hopefully) may never see the light of day. That said there seems to be a disturbing shift to the right in Dutch politics over the last few years with increasing restrictions on/closures of Coffeshops, along with the scaling back of "windows" and other establishments in the RLD's and the tightening of laws on mushrooms and "headshop" substances.


There seems to be an erroneous assumption that people go to Amsterdam break down into two mutually exclusive groups
1) Those who go for drugs and/or hookers
2) Those who go for museums/galleries/sightseeing/culture/shopping/etc

Has it never occurred to anyone that some of us might like to go for 1) AND 2) ?

Indeed, it appears that my longheld ambition to go the the VanGogh museum and sit in front of 'starry night' binned out of my gourd and listening to Don McClean will have to remain sadly unfilfilled....

Auvers

this will never work, it will all carry on the same way as it has before, this law they brought in a couple of years ago about weed not being sold close to schools is a fallacy

I know of one such shop close to a school that still operates selling weed even though there is no menu or mention of weed, just some huge bald biker lad standing at the end of the bar who gives you the menu from under the counter and they have never been bothered by the police

I lived in Holland for a period in the 90ies and as the Dutch say "er is altijd een weg omheen wetten"

weed is so ingrained in Dutch society that this plan will never work

Hookah

There's shebeens aplenty as it is.

And it's not as if the Dutch applied a strict adherence to the smoking ban; I was chugging on a few ciggies in a city centre bar a couple of weekends back.

I'd imagine the same laissez-faire attitude will apply to these new cannabis laws. T'is probably just to keep Geert Wilders happy.

Auvers

Hookah wrote: »

. I'd imagine the same laissez-faire attitude will apply to these new cannabis laws. T'is probably just to keep Geert Wilders happy.

yep thats exactly what will happen

Hookah

Auvers wrote: »

yep thats exactly what will happen

Or there'll be a roaring street trade in fake residency letters.

Auvers

^

cant see it happening though, too many tourist dollars tied up with weed

theillest

Well at least I can say i went there and smoked as much as i was physically capable of....what an unreal city.
But yeah I can see a law being passed,but it will probably be the exact same as the "no smoking with tabacco" i cant think of a coffee shop i went to where people were told they wernt allowed throw a fag in their joint.It would be way too much of a shock to the system half the coffee shops would close down and some hotels and hostels wouldnt be able to stay open either never mind all the weed bought by tourists.

RachaelVO

Hookah wrote: »

Or there'll be a roaring street trade in fake residency letters.

More likely in what is commonly a verblijfs vergunning (residency permit), which might be harded to fake, as it's a card with your name on it. Either that or an official stamp on your passport! Bit hard to fake!

I'd stop worrying, I don't see it being passed, too many Gemeentes (Town councils) are in uproar at the loss in local revenue alone (the tourist tax for a start)

Wompa1

Have they done analysis which has determined the cost of increased crime has shown that it's no longer profitable to their economy to have druggie tourists that probably don't do much else other than smoke and go on the cheap anyway...

cungryhunt

I am pie wrote: »

Millions of tourists will continue to go to Amsterdam every year t see the flower markets, canals, unique architecture, bars, cafes and restuarants and art galleries.

A subset of these won't be able to go and get smoke weed.

I'm pretty sure the dutch economy can survive the trauma.

Wrong way around... a subset of the people who visit for the pot will still visit for the canals and flowers and prossies.

Auvers

RachaelVO wrote: »

I'd stop worrying, I don't see it being passed, too many Gemeentes (Town councils) are in uproar at the loss in local revenue alone (the tourist tax for a start)

yep completely agree, its not going to work.

Can you imagine the street dealing going on :eek: if this madness actually passes, it would be like the bad old days in Amsterdam with those scummy pricks going around whispering hash\e\coke as they walk by

btard

The Irish Government are going to follow suit by banning tourists from pubs. Only Irish residents with a valid id card will be allowed to buy a pint of Guinness now.

seanmc1980

Dean0088 wrote: »

You truly underestimate just home much gange tourism Amsterdam and Eidenhoven gets.

not really, when you have the 5th largest financial district in the world, one of the largest ports in the world a few pot heads wont make much of a difference if i'm being honest. amsterdam get about 5 miill tourists a year if the lose say 2mil it wont be a big lose condidering the size of the revenuse brought in by the other industries.

SteoL

I have not read this thread but I have gone to the Dam on an almost annual basis since 1997 (excluding last 3 years) and this rumour is going around since then. Will never happen.

SteoL

Auvers wrote: »

yep completely agree, its not going to work.

Can you imagine the street dealing going on :eek: if this madness actually passes, it would be like the bad old days in Amsterdam with those scummy pricks going around whispering hash\e\coke as they walk by

Still happens, nephew was there this year.

ScumLord

seanmc1980 wrote: »

not really, when you have the 5th largest financial district in the world, one of the largest ports in the world a few pot heads wont make much of a difference if i'm being honest. amsterdam get about 5 miill tourists a year if the lose say 2mil it wont be a big lose condidering the size of the revenuse brought in by the other industries.

While it's true the Netherlands doesn't need cannabis tourists it's a different storey for Amsterdam. Amsterdam is a bit of a tourist town, it's a completely different world from the rest of the country, I don't think it'll be the ruination of Amsterdam as a tourist destination but cannabis has always been one of their greatest selling points, they get things like the cannabis cup which brings thousands of people into the city every year. It would be like Dublin losing the St Patrick's day parade.

ScumLord

SteoL wrote: »

Still happens, nephew was there this year.

they are not selling drugs, they're out to scam tourists.

SteoL

ScumLord wrote: »

they are not selling drugs, they're out to scam tourists.

The majority of them yes. But years ago I sampled and purchased some nice white powder on more than one occasion from people walking around the place. Those around red light/Damrak are rip off artists alright, would buy nothing from them.

MadsL

Thanks to Wrighty for the Brel reference; I can't let that pass without sharing the man himself...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkZ_ihsn404

The goddess that is channelling Brel, the fabulous Ute Lemper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Djsonqk_o

...and our own (slightly drunk in this clip?) Camille O'Sullivan (gotta love her)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd2Zb8Ci8-8

StickItU

Tulips, Cheese and an obnoxious society ........... um what else do they have to offer? ......idiots!! :mad:

Minstrel27

I find it to be a very nice country. I like sitting by the canals and watching the world go by.

Eric Cartman

i can confirm that when your not drunk, stoned and mashed out of your head on mushrooms, amsterdam isnt that great a place

keithclancy

http://www.new-rules.eu/newrules

Dutch coffee shops attract many visitors from abroad each year. However, from 1 May 2012 new rules will apply to the sale of soft drugs, so that tourists will no longer be able to buy soft drugs in the Netherlands.

The ‘opendoor’ policy currently pursued by coffee shops will come to an end; they will become private clubs. Customers who live in the Netherlands and are registered with a Dutch municipality will only be able to buy soft drugs from a coffee shop if they are registered members. Membership is restricted to 2,000 members per coffeeshop (as of 1 January 2013). Tourists will not be able to join. Soon they will no longer be able to buy soft drugs in a Dutch coffeeshop.

The Netherlands is introducing new rules for the sale of soft drugs. What does this mean?

Dutch coffee shops will become private clubs.
Dutch coffee shops will be out of bounds to foreign tourists.
There will be no point in coming to the Netherlands for soft drugs.
The new rules will apply from 1 May 2012 in the provinces of Zeeland, North Brabant and Limburg.
They will apply everywhere in the Netherlands from 1 January 2013.

No more party for non residents !

Will you still visit Amsterdam for the 'Culture' ?

Sunnyisland

The lads here will have to increase growing there own.

Squidgy Black

Old news OP. Been posted here several times.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

and thus the dutch tourism industry collapsed in on itself