Hundreds if not thousands of people arrive in Amsterdam every single day with the sole reason of consuming cannabis. Changing the coffeeshop regulations won't stop them coming, and as long as theres a demand for weed, someone will provide it. Whether its a street dealer, or a local who charges 5 euros to walk into a coffeeshop and buy weed for visitors. Or a homeless person who does it for a cigarette.
But the first and most obvious outcome is that Amsterdam would be infested by street dealers trying to cater to those 1000's of people arriving every day. The police will be swamped trying to play cat and mouse with all these new dealers, and Amsterdam turns into a giant mess.
The authorities don't want street dealers and junkies taking over Amsterdam like it was in the 80's and 90's. They spent a lot of time and effort cleaning up the city and driving out the undesirables. This is why I doubt a 'locals only' policy will happen any time soon.
Great post Bleak.
How have the police reacted to this proposal? Whats thier view?
Most buy more than the odd gram boner in all respects mate! we save up long & hard to go there & spend good money,Try 1300 euros worth! & if there were say a few million guys like me that adds up,For them! as it will have to be found somewhere else! ie yet more rises,I wish edinburgh had the numbers of visitors a-dam gets & that they would all stay for like 10 days @ at time blowing thousands the process,We would never have to pay council tax or anything like that again here,& No i just dont go to amterdam for the dope in case anyone asks! i went in the 1st place as i had never been overseas before,Not for whores or mushrooms! sorry to break this to people but you can buy grass & good hash here,All this crap that guys like me travel over like 5 countires to smoke dope is laughable! we even have whores to .
No disrespect to you here KD but your on a rant there pal !! Edinburgh gets something silly like 13million visitors per year !! I really dont see how visitor cash would pay our council tax etc ? And how do you travel over 5 countries to get to Dam ? Do you know your geography ?
As i say not an insult to you or meant to offend just adding to the debate !
The more money the city pulls in with visitors spending on stuff the better it is for everyone! ie hotels/bars & so on,& the council doesnt have to ask for more yet money from central govt if there short or worse still pass on the shortfall to people like me via rate rises,Ie less visitors the more we have to pay! thats why we have the festival & that mate,Most edinburgh people dont strike me as culture buffs so we put up with all the crouds & road closures as we know its bringing money into the city & that we shouldnt moan to much as its holding down the prices really,New years party/and all those firewords & everything else have to be paid for somehow,& Council tax/rent incomes here arnt enough to pay for everything mate! look at the schools & stuff there closing down lately,Ps most overseas people arnt dole scrouders & fraudsters! some work harder than most of our own croud so you cant lay all our problems at everyone elses door,Even if we are being conned via the benefits system well whos fault is that? us for giving it to them or them for taking it?,Ps cisco our biggest trading partners are the rest of the UK! & we do get tons of irish/welsh & even english people here all year round so i am sure out of the overseas visitors & the rest of the UK your figures shouldnt be far wrong,125.000 people watched the pope in 1 afternoon alone,Thats not including the festival/x-mas markets & new year! theres over a couple million just for edinburgh alone i should think,We may think tourists are a pain in the arse but there all making life easier for us at the end of the day,Edinburgh is not that big when you think of it! what 500.000 people & weve got a city centre like that,You dont see notingham & places like that punching above there weight like we have enjoyed! do you think all those old style taverns & top hotels are for the benefit of the down & outs on the street? i dont,Locals couldnt support a 1000 pubs in like 10 square miles mate! were known to like a drink but come on! ok then i hope you are more enlightened on the pro`s of economics/supply & demand + market forces,Doc.
Eh do you know the pros and cons of supply and demand ? First of all the festival , Hogmany etc are not provided just to keep the prices down !! And also they are PRIVATELY sponsored !! Council tax and rent DO NOT pay for these things they are used to fund the municiple ie the City be it wages , Government , upkeep of the city etc . And yeah i do believe Edinburgh people are cultured !? dunno bout you but i make use of our Museums , Galleries etc and if you look into the history of the Festival etc they were not soley started to fund OUR lifes !! Im not that certain myself but local things have snowballed into International successes ?!! as you say LMFAO
And do you think places that have no tourists (cant think of anywhere off hand) pay more taxes etc than people in popular tourist areas ? Cmon mate
Last edited by Cisco on Mon 4th Oct 2010 02:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hundreds if not thousands of people arrive in Amsterdam every single day with the sole reason of consuming cannabis. Changing the coffeeshop regulations won't stop them coming, and as long as theres a demand for weed, someone will provide it. Whether its a street dealer, or a local who charges 5 euros to walk into a coffeeshop and buy weed for visitors. Or a homeless person who does it for a cigarette.
But the first and most obvious outcome is that Amsterdam would be infested by street dealers trying to cater to those 1000's of people arriving every day. The police will be swamped trying to play cat and mouse with all these new dealers, and Amsterdam turns into a giant mess.
The authorities don't want street dealers and junkies taking over Amsterdam like it was in the 80's and 90's. They spent a lot of time and effort cleaning up the city and driving out the undesirables. This is why I doubt a 'locals only' policy will happen any time soon.
Great post Bleak.
How have the police reacted to this proposal? Whats thier view?
There is no money for the extra 3000 police,as set down in the coalition agreement...in fact the police believe they will lose 1300,according to Police Chiefs...
cisco wrote:
No disrespect to you here KD but your on a rant there pal !! Edinburgh gets something silly like 13million visitors per year !! I really dont see how visitor cash would pay our council tax etc ? And how do you travel over 5 countries to get to Dam ? Do you know your geography ?
As i say not an insult to you or meant to offend just adding to the debate !
The more money the city pulls in with visitors spending on stuff the better it is for everyone! ie hotels/bars & so on,& the council doesnt have to ask for more yet money from central govt if there short or worse still pass on the shortfall to people like me via rate rises,Ie less visitors the more we have to pay! thats why we have the festival & that mate,Most edinburgh people dont strike me as culture buffs so we put up with all the crouds & road closures as we know its bringing money into the city & that we shouldnt moan to much as its holding down the prices really,New years party/and all those firewords & everything else have to be paid for somehow,& Council tax/rent incomes here arnt enough to pay for everything mate! look at the schools & stuff there closing down lately,Ps most overseas people arnt dole scrouders & fraudsters! some work harder than most of our own croud so you cant lay all our problems at everyone elses door,Even if we are being conned via the benefits system well whos fault is that? us for giving it to them or them for taking it?,Ps cisco our biggest trading partners are the rest of the UK! & we do get tons of irish/welsh & even english people here all year round so i am sure out of the overseas visitors & the rest of the UK your figures shouldnt be far wrong,125.000 people watched the pope in 1 afternoon alone,Thats not including the festival/x-mas markets & new year! theres over a couple million just for edinburgh alone i should think,We may think tourists are a pain in the arse but there all making life easier for us at the end of the day,Edinburgh is not that big when you think of it! what 500.000 people & weve got a city centre like that,You dont see notingham & places like that punching above there weight like we have enjoyed! do you think all those old style taverns & top hotels are for the benefit of the down & outs on the street? i dont,Locals couldnt support a 1000 pubs in like 10 square miles mate! were known to like a drink but come on! ok then i hope you are more enlightened on the pro`s of economics/supply & demand + market forces,Doc.
Eh do you know the pros and cons of supply and demand ? First of all the festival , Hogmany etc are not provided just to keep the prices down !! And also they are PRIVATELY sponsored !! Council tax and rent DO NOT pay for these things they are used to fund the municiple ie the City be it wages , Government , upkeep of the city etc . And yeah i do believe Edinburgh people are cultured !? dunno bout you but i make use of our Museums , Galleries etc and if you look into the history of the Festival etc they were not soley started to fund OUR lifes !! Im not that certain myself but local things have snowballed into International successes ?!! as you say LMFAO
And do you think places that have no tourists (cant think of anywhere off hand) pay more taxes etc than people in popular tourist areas ? Cmon mate
"etc are not provided just to keep the prices down"
It can only help us lets put it that way,& the there not laying on all that s**t all year round cos they love everyone so much either! theres a nice link for you at the bottom mate,These sort of things are gona happen when we are punching above our weight & theres no visitors with MONEY to trade with & fall back on even,How do you think they have all the big hotel chains/bars in edinburgh? ie trade,Its whats built this city! there not gona pay 2 million on an old bank building then another 3 million to do it all up for the half pint & dog brigade! & there not gona have domino nights there either in all respects .
The more money the city pulls in with visitors spending on stuff the better it is for everyone! ie hotels/bars & so on,& the council doesnt have to ask for more yet money from central govt if there short or worse still pass on the shortfall to people like me via rate rises,Ie less visitors the more we have to pay! thats why we have the festival & that mate,Most edinburgh people dont strike me as culture buffs so we put up with all the crouds & road closures as we know its bringing money into the city & that we shouldnt moan to much as its holding down the prices really,New years party/and all those firewords & everything else have to be paid for somehow,& Council tax/rent incomes here arnt enough to pay for everything mate! look at the schools & stuff there closing down lately,Ps most overseas people arnt dole scrouders & fraudsters! some work harder than most of our own croud so you cant lay all our problems at everyone elses door,Even if we are being conned via the benefits system well whos fault is that? us for giving it to them or them for taking it?,Ps cisco our biggest trading partners are the rest of the UK! & we do get tons of irish/welsh & even english people here all year round so i am sure out of the overseas visitors & the rest of the UK your figures shouldnt be far wrong,125.000 people watched the pope in 1 afternoon alone,Thats not including the festival/x-mas markets & new year! theres over a couple million just for edinburgh alone i should think,We may think tourists are a pain in the arse but there all making life easier for us at the end of the day,Edinburgh is not that big when you think of it! what 500.000 people & weve got a city centre like that,You dont see notingham & places like that punching above there weight like we have enjoyed! do you think all those old style taverns & top hotels are for the benefit of the down & outs on the street? i dont,Locals couldnt support a 1000 pubs in like 10 square miles mate! were known to like a drink but come on! ok then i hope you are more enlightened on the pro`s of economics/supply & demand + market forces,Doc.
Eh do you know the pros and cons of supply and demand ? First of all the festival , Hogmany etc are not provided just to keep the prices down !! And also they are PRIVATELY sponsored !! Council tax and rent DO NOT pay for these things they are used to fund the municiple ie the City be it wages , Government , upkeep of the city etc . And yeah i do believe Edinburgh people are cultured !? dunno bout you but i make use of our Museums , Galleries etc and if you look into the history of the Festival etc they were not soley started to fund OUR lifes !! Im not that certain myself but local things have snowballed into International successes ?!! as you say LMFAO
And do you think places that have no tourists (cant think of anywhere off hand) pay more taxes etc than people in popular tourist areas ? Cmon mate
"etc are not provided just to keep the prices down"
It can only help us lets put it that way,& the there not laying on all that s**t all year round cos they love everyone so much either! theres a nice link for you at the bottom mate,These sort of things are gona happen when we are punching above our weight & theres no visitors with MONEY to trade with & fall back on even,How do you think they have all the big hotel chains/bars in edinburgh? ie trade,Its whats built this city! there not gona pay 2 million on an old bank building then another 3 million to do it all up for the half pint & dog brigade! & there not gona have domino nights there either in all respects .
Has got nothing to do with Tourism , its because of cuts due to the Economy taxes go up so services dont get cut , I dont think you think much of OUR fair city ?"gona pay 2 million on an old bank building then another 3 million to do it all up for the half pint & dog brigade!" Have you actually been out in town etc for a drink ? i can tell you its certainly not all tourists or the so called "half pint and dog end brigade" Edinburgh is a very prosperous City , look at designer shops etc but wait there for tourists right ?
"It can only help us lets put it that way,& the there not laying on all that s**t all year round cos they love everyone so much either"
Eh they have it every year because they are succesful cultural events ! Do you think they sit in the city chambers giving it "ah the festival/hogmany we hate it but we will do it for the money rubbing their hands in glee?"
Is Pot and Hash in Holland specificly taxed ?
IE a "dope tax" ?
Not that it matters really, i do not see a city like Amsterdam turning away the tourism money ( hotels, food , drinks , tours etc etc ) that pot tourism DIRECTLY generates.
Dave J wrote:But is there any genuine realistic chance of it becoming tollerated in another european country in even the next 10 years?.
Not if they are part of the EU, the preasure would be immense from cry baby governments like France.
Best bet would be an ex iron block country like Prauge, which already has lax pot laws and a rapidly building tourism industry.
I asked my Dutch colleagues about this today and they laughed at me. One is voting CDA member and he said "your stoned friends have nothing to worry about."
We all had a good laugh but seriously, they seemed to think it would not be happening.
cisco wrote:
No disrespect to you here KD but your on a rant there pal !! Edinburgh gets something silly like 13million visitors per year !! I really dont see how visitor cash would pay our council tax etc ? And how do you travel over 5 countries to get to Dam ? Do you know your geography ?
As i say not an insult to you or meant to offend just adding to the debate !
The more money the city pulls in with visitors spending on stuff the better it is for everyone! ie hotels/bars & so on,& the council doesnt have to ask for more yet money from central govt if there short or worse still pass on the shortfall to people like me via rate rises,Ie less visitors the more we have to pay! thats why we have the festival & that mate,Most edinburgh people dont strike me as culture buffs so we put up with all the crouds & road closures as we know its bringing money into the city & that we shouldnt moan to much as its holding down the prices really,New years party/and all those firewords & everything else have to be paid for somehow,& Council tax/rent incomes here arnt enough to pay for everything mate! look at the schools & stuff there closing down lately,Ps most overseas people arnt dole scrouders & fraudsters! some work harder than most of our own croud so you cant lay all our problems at everyone elses door,Even if we are being conned via the benefits system well whos fault is that? us for giving it to them or them for taking it?,Ps cisco our biggest trading partners are the rest of the UK! & we do get tons of irish/welsh & even english people here all year round so i am sure out of the overseas visitors & the rest of the UK your figures shouldnt be far wrong,125.000 people watched the pope in 1 afternoon alone,Thats not including the festival/x-mas markets & new year! theres over a couple million just for edinburgh alone i should think,We may think tourists are a pain in the arse but there all making life easier for us at the end of the day,Edinburgh is not that big when you think of it! what 500.000 people & weve got a city centre like that,You dont see notingham & places like that punching above there weight like we have enjoyed! do you think all those old style taverns & top hotels are for the benefit of the down & outs on the street? i dont,Locals couldnt support a 1000 pubs in like 10 square miles mate! were known to like a drink but come on! ok then i hope you are more enlightened on the pro`s of economics/supply & demand + market forces,Doc.
Eh do you know the pros and cons of supply and demand ? First of all the festival , Hogmany etc are not provided just to keep the prices down !! And also they are PRIVATELY sponsored !! Council tax and rent DO NOT pay for these things they are used to fund the municiple ie the City be it wages , Government , upkeep of the city etc . And yeah i do believe Edinburgh people are cultured !? dunno bout you but i make use of our Museums , Galleries etc and if you look into the history of the Festival etc they were not soley started to fund OUR lifes !! Im not that certain myself but local things have snowballed into International successes ?!! as you say LMFAO
And do you think places that have no tourists (cant think of anywhere off hand) pay more taxes etc than people in popular tourist areas ? Cmon mate
Listen cisco i think you have dragged this one on a bit much mate ,So are your saying edinburgh & its people dont benefit at all in any shape or form from all that goes on? (near all year round) & we just let private enterprise get all the profits? you come on! everyone gets a slice,Right down to taxi drivers/hotels/bars & even the dishwashers/cleaners & roadsweepers that clean up after them all,Oh & btw when we held the commonweath games back in "86" it was COUNCIL venues that were used mainly! ie the commonweath pool/meadowbank stadium & so on,So your bs that edinburgh hasnt done well & has made no sizeable money over the years from hosting all these "events" is utter canter if you dont mind me saying so,Oh one last thing dont try & reply as you wont get an answer! ive wasted enough time on this.
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,So are your saying edinburgh & its people dont benefit at all in any shape or form from all that goes on? (near all year round) & we just let private enterprise get all the profits? you come on! everyone gets a slice,Right down to taxi drivers/hotels/bars & even the dishwashers/cleaners & roadsweepers that clean up after them all,Oh & btw when we held the commonweath games back in "86" it was COUNCIL venues that were used mainly! ie the commonweath pool/meadowbank stadium & so on,So your bs that edinburgh hasnt done well & has made no sizeable money over the years from hosting all these "events" is utter canter if you dont mind me saying so,Oh one last thing dont try & reply as you wont get an answer! ive wasted enough time on this.