archambaut wrote:I'm guessing that if the coffee shops are smart they would form some kind of coop or affiliation so that you could have membership on a town or provincial basis.
More worrying is the nationality thing, I suspect it might affect a lot of non-national residents too (esp in Den Haag).
Any idea on the timetable for this?
Arch
I am sure they will iron out something if push comes to shove.
HasAnyoneSeenMyPipe wrote:I reallt can't see this happening like lingdoc says they have bigger problems than pushing yet another drug underground.
Yea & the cops have there hands full also so its unlikely the govt can simply pass the problem down the line to them either,If the s**t does hit the fan i hope MHD/Nol & the rest of the pro cannabis movement in holland become more hasstle than they are worth all over again .
archambaut wrote:
OTOH they may be so gridlocked on the serious stuff that they push this through in order to have something to show to their populist supporters...
archambaut wrote:
OTOH they may be so gridlocked on the serious stuff that they push this through in order to have something to show to their populist supporters...
(see the UK coalition for examples)
Arch
Fuck, let's hope you're wrong Arch
Me too, pollies have a habit of disappointing me though
I am heartened by the squatter riots, so let's see...
Not forgeting all the coffeeshops that would have to close as dutch people dont really smoke dope! not disrespects but 700+ coffeeshop wouldnt be able to survive on dutch smokers only,& Yet more local people loosing there jobs & livelihood ,I cant see this happening myself! why kill the goose that lays the golden egg? tourism is one of the few sectors that are MAKING money & not loosing it right now,& if they try it will be 1 can of worms alright ,Arch! go type amsterdam riots in youtube man! weve been down this road before .
cisco wrote:im thinking it would prob just go underground ?
Which would be fine for the locals but it wouldn't help us 'weed tourists'
I dont get why people think that cannabis makes a big differance to the tourist industry in Holland either, they make a lot more money from people going to museums and shit like that and would continue to do so.
I dont get why people think that cannabis makes a big differance to the tourist industry in Holland.
I think it will make a noticable difference.I recently read a report that stated 1 million tourists a year go to Amsterdam just for cannibis.I will try to find it.You can see paintings and buildings in lots of places.I have traveled to Amsterdam more times than I can count since the late 1980's and spent A LOT of money in doing so,I love Amsterdam.I would not even think of coming back if they did away with coffeeshops for tourists.I am not alone in my thinking.It would still be a tourist city but they would take a hugh hit finacially.
I want to agree with boner here. Amsterdam is a city full of culture and tourist attractions, us stoners are just a minority of the tourist flow Dam gets every year. For some people the criminalization of weed would be THE reason to go to Netherlands... If the local "goverment" really wants us weed-tourists gone, I'm sure they will manage without us. BUT
If there really is 1,000,000 tourists every year in Dam just because of the weed, then it would be just bad business to say "sorry, you're not welcome anymore". As said before, there's too much tax income, too much jobs and too much overall happiness depending on the coffeeshop scene for it to be criminalized.
After all, everythings possible, hope for the best and prepare for the worst...
If they do anything I cant see them doing anything that will change things overnight. How many coffeeshops are there?. There is all the tax and employment that will be effected if they make to much to soon change wise that they would not be able to reverse after any such changes.
But I get the feeling there is thought to reduce the number of coffeeshops a lot. If this happens it will possably mean fewer coffeeshops, but they will do better due to less competition. And previous coffeeshops could open as cannabis friendly smoking bars etc. Which is not to different a scene from what the scene is like today.
And if that IS what they end up doing it will mean we wont have to run round like idiots for a few days trying to get to as many coffeeshops as we can. So I guess it would mean more time to spend visiting other attractions in Amsterdam.
Out of everybody I know personally I am the only person who goes to Amsterdam/Holland that smokes weed (I have friends who I met in Amsterdam but I'm not counting them), Amsterdam wants to become all cosmopolitan like Paris or Barcelona which would more than make up for the loss of the weed tourists.
Edit: According to wikipedia (I know) Amsterdam has 4.63 million tourists a year, I highly doubt a million of those are purely weed tourists.
reallt and who is lingdoc 
.
doubt a million of those are purely weed tourists.
