Amsterdam's pot 'coffee shops' could go up in smoke
 

One step closer?


A new ruling by Europe's highest court may help pave the way for a ban on foreign tourists buying marijuana at free-wheeling "coffee shops" in Amsterdam and other Dutch cities.

The European Court of Justice announced Thursday that the mayor of Maastricht -- a southern town near the German and Belgian borders and not far from France -- was right to close down a coffee shop that had been selling cannabis to non-residents, says Reuters.

UGH, not that I buy much, but its nice to have the knowledge, that you can, if you want to:2 cents:
and ps, now its on the level and taxed. All this will accomplish is to drive it underground.....

The are getting more and more crazy. This city has a lot of drugs travellers from other countries that is why they did it there. But other countries are legalizing also, so drugttravelling will stop.

The government in Amsterdam don't realise that a lot of people come for the coffeeshops and red-light district. If they go further this way Amsterdam will be very quiet. Offcourse there will be weed available. Coke is also forbidden, you can buy it on every streetcorner. Turning the red-light district into a art-district, they are nuts.

yeah...













For foreigners ;-)

Turning the red-light district into a art-district, they are nuts.[/QUOTE]

There goes the neighborhood:Oh crap

what a joke.

damn that sucks balls :(

I recently heard somebody say that the Netherlands are really cracking down on people's privacy and that they are turning into a police state.

I have friends there. Beautiful country, but never liked the idea they can arrest and detain in jail before having enough evidence to press formal charges, they can do it just based on suspicion.

Netherlands are very liberal in some ways, but also very heavy handed in others.

Where the Government there will make a lot more money off of the drug if it is illegal, for instance look at the United States and it's war on drugs :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

just buy seeds and grow your own shit ... or ask friends, there will be some who will have something to share :winkwink:

If that will be the case you will see more street hustlers where people can buy the stuff.

EU ruling or not it doesn't matter, imagine that in NL we have more coffee shops as bakkeries and the NL government sucks a lot of taxes from softdrugs exploitation.

Even when a drugs dealer is convicted for trafficking or growing he will get at the end of his prison time an estimate of what he could have earned and that he needs to pay to the state as a penalty.

So in way the Dutch Government is the big earner. Don't forget that our country invented slavery and dope trafficking. The 1st official and legal Coke Factory was established in NL.

The demand of coke is so high in the Netherlands, seems like a lot of people are sniffing in every hierarchy of the society.

They say there are even cities where 1:3 citizens are using coke.

Around 10 yrs ago the NL government even open lines to get all the shit into the country "to see who where the big boys in terms of blueprinting".

There was even a big political hearing in the government because it was for them unexplainable why government officials where all part of the chain and would go so far.

So does this mean that while I am there I don't have to follow their other laws that contradict those of my home nation? I doubt it!

And Holland had such a nice and liberal reputation.

You are not a tourist, but a business traveller. maybe you are allowed to buy?

Now we are on it, maybe ban the tourist from bicycles, that is more dangerous :)

I have never traveled a day in my life that was for "Business" as far as TSA or any other travel bureau is concerned.

"people don't sell drugs, drugs sell drugs"
-chris rock

no way there will ever be a shortage or a hassle finding pot and mushrooms in AMS.

Come April I'll be puffing in Arizona legally. :)

I am not going to argue whether or not you invented drug trafficking, even if I am relatively confident someone in China MUST have been making money on the side with opium, but there is no way in hell NL invented slavery. Perhaps you have heard of the Roman, Greek, Egyptian, Hun and Mongolian empires, but to name a few that thrived on slavery.

:1orglaugh

Maybe I stated it not correctly about the slavery because it has been since ancient times.

According to many American history books, the Dutch were the first to bring enslaved Africans to the shores of Virginia in 1619. John Rolfe, resident of Jamestown, noted in his diary that about twenty black people had been brought to the settlement in a Dutch man-of-war.

http://www.kb.nl/coop/geheugen/extra.../tentoon3.html

The Dutchies were active with dope trading since 1640

Dutch opium commerce on Java fostered both a vast state enterprise and a large illicit traffic. From 1640 to 1799, the Dutch East India Company (V.O.C.) imported an average of 56 tons of opium annually, large quantities for their day that rose steadily throughout the 19th century to 208 tons by 1904.

http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/opi010.htm

http://www.viceland.com/blogs/en/200...-manufacturer/

It also turns out the Dutch government made tons of money during World War 1 by supplying the surrounding countries with drugs

Read the rest at Vice Magazine: HOLLAND WAS THE WORLD?S BIGGEST COKE MANUFACTURER - Viceland Today

You are in Hollland, dutch rules apply. So i wonder if it is possible that you join some Dutchies on a business meeting in a coffeeshop. But this laws are more for the cities near the Belgium border like Maastricht. There are drugs runners that are on the highway to lead tourist to their coffeeshops. They can be very aggresive. That is why they want this rules there. Cars drive through the streets all day to get customers to a shop. And most of the tourist are there to smuggle it to Belgium/Germany. And that isn't allowed. Amsterdam doesn't have that problem cause it isn't near a border. But you never know what the intentions of our government are.

We have to fill in a form if we are for Business our as tourist when we go to the USA or some other countries. Maybe just for statistics.

It's not a "new EU" ruling, Dutch Government has asked the EU to evaluate the new Dutch law that they want to enforce, and the EU agreed that it was not against EU policy giving the Dutch government the OK to pass this new Dutch law.

Basically, anyone who isn't registered as a Dutch resident will not be allowed to purchase in coffeeshops anymore. Dutch residents will get a "drugpass" on request making you a registered drug user, but Dutch government denies the latter...

One out of touch mayor from Maastricht isn't going to change that multi billion dollar industry.

Hooray to Boulder, Colorado - 107 medical marijuana dispensaries!!!
(not bad for a town of less than 100,000 people)

Great points and I had thought about this when I first read the thread but it lead me to one question. If it becomes harder for someone to buy in the border areas of Holland wont the smugglers just go father into the country. I have not visited Holland yet, I hope to change that is 2011, but my impression that that it is one very small country. All the smugglers would have to do is add an hour or two to their trips to get at the drugs :)

lamest thing travel-wise i've heard in a long time.

this "medical marihuana" thing is the biggest joke ever :2 cents:

and not cause i think it makes no sense to give sick people marihuana, especially cancer and AIDS patients really benefit from it. but it would be far more honest if they would just legalize it instead of this stupid disguise

well... it's a good start... it's a proof that finally enough activists, lawyers, doctors, politicians, family members, moms, dads, and kids kids that could vote said, "Enough is enough... We don't need to keep throwing humans in jail for marijuana. I don't want my son or daughter, or mom or dad, or friends going to jail because they smoke weed. And so here is what we are going to do to get it passed..." Excellent step away from ridiculousness.