Netherlands to close Cannabis outlets to tourists.

El Weirdo

Merged with original thread on the same subject.

ooPabsoo

Noooo ...CoffeeShops banned for tourists in 3 southern states from the first of May. Won't come into effect in Amsterdam until the start of next year.

A Dutch judge has upheld the government's plan to introduce a "weed pass" to prevent foreigners from buying marijuana in coffee shops in the Netherlands.

A lawyer for coffee shop owners says he will file an urgent appeal against Friday's ruling by a judge at The Hague District court that clears the way for the introduction of the pass in southern provinces on May 1.

The pass will roll out in the rest of the country next year.

In a written ruling, the court agreed with government lawyer Eric Daalder that the fight against criminality linked to the drug trade justified the measure.

Amsterdam, whose scores of coffee shops are a major tourism drawcard, opposes the plan, and mayor Eberhard van der Laan says he wants to hammer out a compromise.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/04/27/netherlands-marijuana-foreignerrs.html

ScumLord

grindle wrote: »

It's nice and clean nowadays, but 6-7 years ago, it was a knacker(urban scumbag)-pocalypse going head to head with a homeless-pocalypse.
Tag-teamed with a 'charliecharliecocaineheroinspeed'-pocalypse.
But it's been well cleaned up. So now it's a nice-pocalypse.

The first time I visited Amsterdam was about 6 -7 years ago and I thought it was lovely then too. I had to get the tram to the outskirts to stay at a camping site because everything in the city was booked up and throughout the entire trip Amsterdam was spotless, everything running like clockwork and not even a raised voice from any local I met.

prinz

ScumLord wrote: »

The first time I visited Amsterdam was about 6 -7 years ago and I thought it was lovely then too. I had to get the tram to the outskirts to stay at a camping site because everything in the city was booked up and throughout the entire trip Amsterdam was spotless, everything running like clockwork and not even a raised voice from any local I met.

I was there in 2004 and thought parts of the city centre were a disaster. Just tacky, grimy and uncomfortable. The amount of times someone offered to help me find my uncle Charlie would put the Roma beggars to shame. Glad to hear they've cleaned up the act a bit, at the time I swore I'd never go back.

bodice ripper

I am glad I am no longer a tourist so.


this will never come in in amsterdam - no one I speak with is behind it and far too many jobs are directly and indirectly in jeopardy.

ooPabsoo

bodice ripper wrote: »

I am glad I am no longer a tourist so.


this will never come in in amsterdam - no one I speak with is behind it and far too many jobs are directly and indirectly in jeopardy.

Even the Mayor of the city is totally against it. Me and my mates are going over in a few weeks purely to smoke. If it was banned, we wouldn't go to Amsterdam. The tourism industry will seriously suffer if indeed this rule is brought in...

grindle

prinz wrote: »

Glad to hear they've cleaned up the act a bit, at the time I swore I'd never go back.

Same here. It's gorgeous now, but back then I was like... "So... The Limerick of Europe. Awesome."
Being chased down the street by beggars was a new one on me.
Even got mugged! Luckily my brother's a lunatic bastard and frightened them off.
Mushrooms later that night made up for it.

micropig

prinz wrote: »

I was there in 2004 and thought parts of the city centre were a disaster. Just tacky, grimy and uncomfortable. The amount of times someone offered to help me find my uncle Charlie would put the Roma beggars to shame. Glad to hear they've cleaned up the act a bit, at the time I swore I'd never go back.

Amsterdam red light & surrounding canals...still as tacky as ever:D €8 for a slice of pizza....yeah, I'm not that stoned yet:mad:

They have done a lot of work reducing the beggers, but the coke lads are still there.

I'd still feel safe on my own at night in Amsterdam though, I have often strolled around it at 3, 4, 5 am, even spent a few nights at the train station:D:D

grindle wrote: »

Same here. It's gorgeous now, but back then I was like... "So... The Limerick of Europe. Awesome."
Being chased down the street by beggars was a new one on me.
Even got mugged! Luckily my brother's a lunatic bastard and frightened them off.
Mushrooms later that night made up for it.

Get out of Amsterdam, much better coffeeshops and deals & pubs, Close to Amsterdam, Towns: Leiden is great..big student town and windmills.........Last time I was there Coffee shop didn't open util 4 during the week though:(

Cites: Eindhoven (My favourite, The Bakkerij is great if you like grunge type music and you can drink in here too), Utrecht (lots of goods ones although the names escapes me:p)....Hire a bike-The best craic ever and you get to see parts of the country you wouldn't normally...Lots of benches etc along the bike routes to stop for tea;) at:D:D:D

grindle

micropig wrote: »

They have done a lot of work reducing the beggers, but the coke lads are still there.

I'd still feel safe on my own...

Get out of Amsterdam, much better coffeeshops and deals & pubs...
...Hire a bike-The best craic ever and you get to see parts of the country you wouldn't normally...Lots of benches etc along the bike routes to stop for tea;) at:D:D:D

The coke lads are quieter now though. Seem to have adopted twitches and winks as signals.
And it is very safe now... Have a friend living there now, so I'm over every two months. More into clubbing than smoking at this stage.
... But I'm not learning to ride a bike just cos you told me to! No way. Terror.

micropig

grindle wrote: »

... But I'm not learning to ride a bike just cos you told me to! No way. Terror.

Ah do, you have right away..the cars & trams will stop, might possibly lead to to some slapstick moments:D:D:p

keithclancy

Just got 4 day cards yesterday for the Train, unlimited travel for 4 people for 24 hours all over the Netherlands.

Total cost - 50 euros Setting up a Mystery Tour.

Won't be going to f*cking Amsterdam though, whenever I do I always feel Amsterdamaged afterwards and end up hungover for 3 days.

micropig

keithclancy wrote: »

Just got 4 day cards yesterday for the Train, unlimited travel for 4 people for 24 hours all over the Netherlands.

Total cost - 50 euros Setting up a Mystery Tour.

Won't be going to f*cking Amsterdam though, whenever I do I always feel Amsterdamaged afterwards and end up hungover for 3 days.

Nice, Enjoy:D


Have you got yourself a Korting card : 40% for you +3friends?

keithclancy

micropig wrote: »

Nice, Enjoy:D


Have you got yourself a Korting card : 40% for you +3friends?

Nah the Train Company sent myself and a friend an e-mail for a discounted Day Card. 25 bucks per couple

Link

Although I do have the 40% off one, also got the 25% off for International Trains too

Seachmall

micropig wrote: »

Cites: Eindhoven

Best burger I've ever eaten was in Eindhoven. I can't describe it, it was just... perfect.

micropig

Seachmall wrote: »

Best burger I've ever eaten was in Eindhoven. I can't describe it, it was just... perfect.

Bad case of the munchies?:pac::pac:

Seachmall

micropig wrote: »

Bad case of the munchies?:pac::pac:

Great case of the munchies.

keithclancy

Seachmall wrote: »

Best burger I've ever eaten was in Eindhoven. I can't describe it, it was just... perfect.

Good fast food in the Netherlands ? Where ??

I thought the burgers were always mingin .

SteoL

Best restaurant I've eaten in was just off Rembrandtplein called Bangkok. Nicest Thai food I've ever had. Used to then head to Rembrandtplein for a joint in either the old Amsterdam coffeeshop or 'Smokey'. The former had the biggest selection of weed and hash I've seen. White Russian was tasty - blend of white widow, white rhino and skunk.

There has been talk of this not serving foreigner rule since the first time I was there in 1997. Can't believe it's actually happening now

micropig

SteoL wrote: »

Can't believe it's actually happening now

Not yet, it's still before the courts

SteoL

micropig wrote: »

SteoL wrote: »

Can't believe it's actually happening now

Not yet, it's still before the courts

Wasn't it upheld today? Thought I saw something on news earlier.

EDIT: http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0427/dutch-court-throws-out-cannabis-card-challenge.html

Sorry, on phone so unable to copy text from article.

qrrgprgua

Eve_Dublin wrote: »

They're going to see a huge drop in tourism now...this is the only reason why many tourists go there....

Now us normal tourists can go!!. Hope the ban the prostitution as well.

SteoL

qrrgprgua wrote: »

Eve_Dublin wrote: »

They're going to see a huge drop in tourism now...this is the only reason why many tourists go there....

Now us normal tourists can go!!. Hope the ban the prostitution as well.

You'd swear you couldn't go before :rolleyes:

I know plenty of people who love Amsterdam and don't smoke or ride whores. It is not a prerequisite to going there nor is the place awash with stoners. Even if it were I'd rather encounter stoners than pissheads.

Logical Fallacy

ScumLord wrote: »

The first time I visited Amsterdam was about 6 -7 years ago and I thought it was lovely then too. I had to get the tram to the outskirts to stay at a camping site because everything in the city was booked up and throughout the entire trip Amsterdam was spotless, everything running like clockwork and not even a raised voice from any local I met.

Last time i was in the Dam there was a big match on, Holland vs some team. When the match was over and all the crowds had dispersed one of the central squares was a shambles, out of nowhere about 2 dozen blokes with brooms hit it and within an hour it was clean as a whistle and this was at about 11 o clock at night.

Over here they would just let the wind blow it all away.

grindle

Domo230 wrote: »

Good riddance. The damn **** damaged my vision and it really pisses me off when people say it's safe.

Your vision of the future, of Amsterdam, or your eyesight?

qrrgprgua

SteoL wrote: »

You'd swear you couldn't go before :rolleyes:

I know plenty of people who love Amsterdam and don't smoke or ride whores. It is not a prerequisite to going there nor is the place awash with stoners. Even if it were I'd rather encounter stoners than pissheads.

Yeah.. Sure. Look I have to travel to Amsterdam for work and there is never a plane that does not have the group of lads off for a stag ...

Sure legal sex and drugs was novel in its day... Now the dutch realise drug tourism is not all its cracked up to be.

Tourists who go there tend to overindulge on everything..

Anyway the fact they are banning tourists from the cafe bars its a good sign..

SteoL

qrrgprgua wrote: »

Yeah.. Sure. Look I have to travel to Amsterdam for work and there is never a plane that does not have the group of lads off for a stag ...

Sure legal sex and drugs was novel in its day... Now the dutch realise drug tourism is not all its cracked up to be.

Tourists who go there tend to overindulge on everything..

Anyway the fact they are banning tourists from the cafe bars its a good sign..

So the stag parties who are on the same flight as you represent all tourists to The Netherlands? Come on.........

Of course you will see people who overindulge. Go into any Irish or UK or any town and you'll see plenty of people who overindulge. I've seen worse in town to be honest.

Obviously this will result in a huge loss to the Dutch economy. I don' think it will stop people from going there though. It will, however, line the pockets of criminals in the Netherlands who will be happy to supply a (more than likely) Inferior product for an increased rate. I don't see the sense in that.

Yamanoto

qrrgprgua wrote: »

Tourists who go there tend to overindulge on everything..

Generalise much?

We should ban pubs from serving Guinness to foreigners so.

In Amsterdam Centrum, any nuisance as a consequence of soft-drug consumption pales in significance, when benchmarked against the clusterfcuk that blights towns and cities across Ireland and the UK every weekend.

Walk 5 mins west from Damrak to the Jordaan and you'd be hard-pressed to find any sign of anti-social behaviour on a Fri/Sat night.

suicide_circus

Sad news indeed. And bad news for the dutch tourist industry. You see, the Netherlands really dosnt have that many draws for tourists, cannabis was its unique selling point. You know what the Netherlands minus cannabis is like? Belgium. And Belgium is a prettt crap place to holiday.

Catari Jaguar

Now's Ireland's chance to swoop in and rebuild our economy with drug tourism

If only we weren't so hell bent on those smoking bans!!

Also like to add that Amsterdam is boring as fook. And I actually went there to see sights...

grindle

suicide_circus wrote: »

And Belgium is a prettt crap place to holiday.

Best beer, chocolate, festivals, and a great club-scene. Recipe for terrible holidays right there.