Coffeeshops restricted to Dutch nationals - Amsterdam!?!?!?

[highdro]

I agree, it is part of the streetscape and the free city attitude , i dont see how hiding these things away like in most countries contributes to a liberal and tolerant society .

[templeball]

You ingest cannabis and you side with people that say smoking cannabis is morally wrong!? WTF!? If children see people that are stoned or drunk, they will learn from an early age that both are accepted as a part of adult life and then they can make their own decisions, when they are later grown, if they would want to partake of either. The smart people know that cannabis is less harmful than alcohol. I dont see any governments closing bars close to schools. Why not? Because it is the "socially acceptable" and cannabis is not. I say legalize it and let people decide for themselves if they would like to use either drug. I, for one, do not feel that a natural plant, as opposed to a man-made brew, is morally objectionable. I believe children should wait until they are an adult (18+) before they should be able to choose for themselves and not have someone else dictating to them what they can and cannot put into their own bodies, as long as they are not hurting anyone else. Keep your morality to yourself. Peace n Pot.

Hi again,
Calm down mate, I think you are misunderstanding me completely. Agreeing with the idea that coffeshops should be away from schools is a long way off agreeing with those against Legalisation, jesus, where did you see me siding with people that think dope is wrong? For the record I have been saying for 20 years that we should legalise the weed and have been on marches in the UK for this in my youth. Have you?
I also agree 100% with you about the hipocracy of pubs/booze versus coffeeshops/dope, Im with you all the way. My daughter has been brought up very tolerant I can assure you. I think you have got my point a bit wrong therefore and seized on something I didnt actually say. Im trying to say that it is perfectly possible to be PRO WEED, PRO LEGALISATION and want there to be some rules about how its done. You and I may vary on whether we want our kids to see people off their heads, but we are saying the same thing apart from this. peace brother!

[Sir Niall of Essex-sire]

Hi again,
Calm down mate, I think you are misunderstanding me completely. Agreeing with the idea that coffeshops should be away from schools is a long way off agreeing with those against Legalisation, jesus, where did you see me siding with people that think dope is wrong? For the record I have been saying for 20 years that we should legalise the weed and have been on marches in the UK for this in my youth. Have you?
I also agree 100% with you about the hipocracy of pubs/booze versus coffeeshops/dope, Im with you all the way. My daughter has been brought up very tolerant I can assure you. I think you have got my point a bit wrong therefore and seized on something I didnt actually say. Im trying to say that it is perfectly possible to be PRO WEED, PRO LEGALISATION and want there to be some rules about how its done. You and I may vary on whether we want our kids to see people off their heads, but we are saying the same thing apart from this. peace brother!

I agree. Im pro-weed and pro-legalisation but anti child use of cannabis. As i am with alcohol and tobacco.

[Adamster]

RLD wasnt clealed up! More like the ppl who own all them windows seems he never payed TAXES so gouverment took some and made arrengement wit Window owner on how money owned to gouverment would to be payed back to them!

[liquidSwords]

If kids see that there are more and more rules put on coffeeshops, do you think that they would feel more inclined to try smoking weed? Kids are naturally rebels, and at some stage the chance to try and smoke cannabis will arise, especially living in Amsterdam.

In MHO, every kid will make their own choice whether to smoke weed or not, no matter how you look at it, kids will be exposed to weed smoke and culture as much as they are exposed to drink and its culture, and that goes for London aswell as Amsterdam, so in the end, i think the more you try and keep something away from kids, the more they will want to see what all the fuss is about....... hope people are catching my drift!!!

[Pauli Wallnuts]

If kids see that there are more and more rules put on coffeeshops, do you think that they would feel more inclined to try smoking weed? Kids are naturally rebels, and at some stage the chance to try and smoke cannabis will arise, especially living in Amsterdam.

In MHO, every kid will make their own choice whether to smoke weed or not, no matter how you look at it, kids will be exposed to weed smoke and culture as much as they are exposed to drink and its culture, and that goes for London aswell as Amsterdam, so in the end, i think the more you try and keep something away from kids, the more they will want to see what all the fuss is about....... hope people are catching my drift!!!

i could be completely wrong but i swear i read something a while back which said the nederlands has 1of the lowest percentages of cannabis use amongst teenagers in europe, i think britain was highest closely followed by germany, france & spain

[liquidSwords]

If kids see that there are more and more rules put on coffeeshops, do you think that they would feel more inclined to try smoking weed? Kids are naturally rebels, and at some stage the chance to try and smoke cannabis will arise, especially living in Amsterdam.

In MHO, every kid will make their own choice whether to smoke weed or not, no matter how you look at it, kids will be exposed to weed smoke and culture as much as they are exposed to drink and its culture, and that goes for London aswell as Amsterdam, so in the end, i think the more you try and keep something away from kids, the more they will want to see what all the fuss is about....... hope people are catching my drift!!!

i could be completely wrong but i swear i read something a while back which said the nederlands has 1of the lowest percentages of cannabis use amongst teenagers in europe, i think britain was highest closely followed by germany, france & spain

Well there u go

[Boner]

Reports say only 8% of the Dutch population smoke mj.

[Sir Niall of Essex-sire]

[
i could be completely wrong but i swear i read something a while back which said the nederlands has 1of the lowest percentages of cannabis use amongst teenagers in europe, i think britain was highest closely followed by germany, france & spain

But, you have to take into account cultural differences between the largely conservative Dutch and the British. I think it is a non-issue use, surely if anything higher use means it should be available because theres more risk in terms of health.

Kids will do what their peer groups on the whole do, which means smoking until they're up to 17. Then going bars a drinking too much. Some stick with smoking most dont. Some even get exposed to cocaine in bars and clubs and move onto that.

[metal4mullets]

Regarding the arguement between Puffin and Templeball; I can definitely see where TB is coming from...except really only with the mention of bars/alcohol. The thought of drunken idiots pushing each other, making a scene, or shouting loudly outside of a bar in front of children makes me more than uncomfortable for sure. That would absolutely anger me if I were a parent in that position. That kind of situation is certainly frightening to children and therefore should be avoided if at all possible.

Concerning coffeeshops, though...I have to disagree with you TB. I really can't recall a time where I personally made a scene whilst high/stoned...or even any of my companions doing so. Have you done something crazy, tripped out on gear, or created a dangerous/frightening situation whilst baked? I'm not sure that children walking by a coffeeshop would ever feel they were in danger or be scared for any reason. Maybe I'm wrong *shrug*?

Basically, definitely get the damn bars out of there; the coffeeshops are harmless IMO and should stay.

[Boner]

Basically, definitely get the damn bars out of there; the coffeeshops are harmless IMO and should stay.

So what about us responsible drinkers?

[Sir Niall of Essex-sire]

Basically, definitely get the damn bars out of there; the coffeeshops are harmless IMO and should stay.

So what about us responsible drinkers?

Indeed, there are those who can drink responsibility, for people who argue against the lazy schizo stoner stereotype, they're pretty quick to assert their own stereotypes.

[metal4mullets]

Basically, definitely get the damn bars out of there; the coffeeshops are harmless IMO and should stay.

So what about us responsible drinkers?

Haha...that's not really the issue. Of course there are responsible drinkers. I happen to be one of them.

Niall, not once in my post did I say, "All that drink get drunk and are irresponsible ruffians."...so I'm not sure where the stereotype issue came from.

Really, the issue is that there are a LOT of irresponsible people that drink and then proceed to cause a scene because of it. My point was that those that are high/stoned don't stumble out of the coffeeshops and then start fights with each other, start yelling, run in to people and knock them over, or fall flat on their face in the street passed out. You have to admit that those events DO happen outside of bars. No, it most likely doesn't happen daily or even every other day...but it DOES happen. It would be extremely, EXTREMELY rare to see any of that occur outside of a coffeeshop.

Let's say some children happen to be walking past a bar when a group of drunken idiots, who were just fighting inside, get thrown out in to the street to continue their activities. That is certainly going to be a frightening situation for a child. Do you not agree? Do you really think this is an impossibility? I personally have seen many, MANY bar fights break out and escalate to the point where multiple parties get thrown out only to start beating on each other as soon as they're outside. I find it extremely hard to believe that if you've frequented bars that you've never witnessed this. It makes me upset to think that there would be children present when this happened.

To make it clear; I don't have a problem with bars or consuming alcohol. I've been to plenty of bars and consumed plenty of alcohol. I just know that bad things CAN and WILL happen in bars and I don't think it's a safe/constructive environment for children.

Try to not take it so personally and view it from the perspective of a parent whose children would have to walk past a drinking establishment late in the day, or at night, to get to/from home. How would you feel if a group of people exploded out the doors and trampled your kids; or to a lesser extent just really scared the hell out of them and they had problems getting to sleep that night?

[templeball]

You know what, Im not even in disagreement with anyone on this. What made me comment to begin with was something was a bit different this year when I went. This year for the first time ever i didnt stay in a hotel/botel with other looneys or above a coffeeshop, I stayed in an apartment that was great but was unfortunately right opposite a school and looked right into a class (im talking about a little primary school here), and for whatever reason I felt really self conscious skinning up and sitting opposite their classroom knowing that the superb gear i was consuming would be having a visible effect on me and I was sitting in full view. You know how the apartments all have these open windows, no net curtains like your auntie vera's house, so it was hard not to feel awkward about it as I felt highly visible. Compounding it was the fact that a teacher watched me stagger from Mellow yellow at the end of the little road back to my aprtment (and I mean stagger, their 'size 71/2 inch' Morrocan hash was superb) most days and for this reason this year I just felt a bit embarrassed, and wished I could have been less in their face. yes its my problem, but thats whats behind my comments, I never used to give a fuck about what I was doing or whether anyone else was bothered by what I was doing, but things change etc...To lighten it a bit, I think we'd all agree that unless it was BONER (and Metal 4Mullets) who is clearly a very responsible drinker AND stoner , we would all rather the drunkards keep themselves to themselves, quite agree no stoner ever hurt anyone, except by overeating possibly and depriving others of good munchies...

[SHIVA 11]

Hey temple ball , i know exactly how you feel as you get older you do feel a bit more self concious . i do especially when in the dam and really kekered might just be the strength of the weed but i am with you on this one