possible new dutch coaliton announce new plans

donpacino · Post by **donpacino** » Thu 14th Oct 2010 11:47 pm

The coffee shops are legitimate buisness' it will not be very fare to just all of sudden tell the owners they can no longer serve tourists, so many people would just lose there livelyhoods, they either need to allow coffee shops and let them serve whoever as long as they are at legal age or get rid of them completely, people will just score of the street and smoke it in smoke friendly bars, they may be able to regulate who goes in coffee shops but seriously how can they regulate who smokes in bars to. I dont know if any of u guys have been in the bulldog lounge bar above the bulldog coffee shop in liedsplein? Well on a thursday, friday and saturday night that place is so packed, i mean u can hardly move and at least half the people there smoke weed and they have a little smoking section at back where u can smoke tobacco, can you really imagine the staff going up to everyone who is smoking weed and asking what nationality they are?, that is to name just one bar, im sure you guys can name dozens of other places like this. The more i think about this it just doesnt seem practical whatsoever.

In regards to membership cards for locals only, alot of us on here have been debating the practicality of these and that it would take alot of work, time and expense etc for the coffee shops to set up, well i have been thinking more about this and it occurd to me that if the government are successful in enforcing this then maybe rather than having to get member cards from individual coffee shops the government may make it that local residents have to apply for coffee shop membership card/pass from the local council(or the dutch equivalent to council, not sure what they have) to be able to go in all coffee shops and may tell coffee shop owners they can only serve people with these cards, if they leave it up to coffee shops to issue memberships then what is stopping them just signing anyone up and then if they get checked by authorities just claiming the customer gave them dutch id or for that matter what is stopping people getting hold of dodgy tenancy agreements to prove fake address and fake id and just siging up, all quite easy to get on the internet.

NedFlanders · Post by **NedFlanders** » Fri 22nd Oct 2010 08:11 pm

yes i`m worried but ive booked now for end of july. My Hope is that bureucracy will work slow and i will be lucky. did anyone heard something new? tehe government is now installed - did anything happen?

Rufus · Post by **Rufus** » Fri 22nd Oct 2010 08:52 pm

Was chatting to a Dutch friend of mine who is in NI for a few months, she told me that her country is totally fucked up and the politics is falling apart, its so bad she doesn't even keep in touch with Dutch news. She can't believe the changes that may be enforced...That says quite a bit imo...

bavlondon · Post by **bavlondon** » Sun 24th Oct 2010 06:42 pm

I haven't read all this thread but is it safe to assume from the slightly disheartened posts that there is a real possibility that tourists could be banned from going to CS's?

Will that not just encourage tourists to look for street dealers? What a shame if it does happen. Don't think id have any reason to go there if it happened. It's a nice city but I go there specifically to get baked.

Ash333 · Post by **Ash333** » Mon 25th Oct 2010 07:47 pm

Am I the only one who can see a load of flaws with this.
The Dutch are world renowned for their horticultural skills, which is why Dutch marijuana is in high demand, as is Dutch fruit, vegetables and flowers.
If the coffeeshops are not permitted to sell to non Dutch nationals, tourists and expats will have to buy their smoke from unlicensed dealers; dealers who are likely to also sell hard drugs.

roker · Post by **roker** » Mon 25th Oct 2010 07:50 pm

It's a shame we can't post sounds...if I could, it'd be a round of applause...

HasjDreamer · Post by **HasjDreamer** » Tue 26th Oct 2010 04:17 am

Unfortunately logic has little to do with the thoughts and actions of the new Dutch government... how many "sleeper cells" have been found in the Netherlands? Read some of the comments on the Expat pages about their once welcomed residences, the remarks are DISTURBING to say the least. You'd think they just lived through a season of "24"! Their fear level is incomprehensible and beyond illogic... the right claim it isn't safe to walk the streets of Amsterdam at night anymore! What city ARE they talking about? Besides, isn't the Biljmer all Surinamese? Aren't the big criminals the Nigerians that run the money scams? Outside a small handful of nasty events ranging from gay beatings and taxi stabbings to the occasional filmmaker slaughter the city is infinitely safer than ANY major European city, let alone a city like Boston where I live (and STILL feel relatively safe!).

My heart is heavy worrying about the direction my beloved home away from home has become. I can't wait to visit in early December and find out first hand if Amsterdam is still a beacon of hope in an otherwise dark nation. I will be frequenting as many "Moroccan" coffee shops as possible and, if the timing feels right, I'm gonna have to ask...

-HD

Marco · Post by **Marco** » Tue 26th Oct 2010 06:25 am

HasjDreamer wrote:Unfortunately logic has little to do with the thoughts and actions of the new Dutch government... how many "sleeper cells" have been found in the Netherlands? Read some of the comments on the Expat pages about their once welcomed residences, the remarks are DISTURBING to say the least. You'd think they just lived through a season of "24"! Their fear level is incomprehensible and beyond illogic... the right claim it isn't safe to walk the streets of Amsterdam at night anymore! What city ARE they talking about? Besides, isn't the Biljmer all Surinamese? Aren't the big criminals the Nigerians that run the money scams? Outside a small handful of nasty events ranging from gay beatings and taxi stabbings to the occasional filmmaker slaughter the city is infinitely safer than ANY major European city, let alone a city like Boston where I live (and STILL feel relatively safe!).

My heart is heavy worrying about the direction my beloved home away from home has become. I can't wait to visit in early December and find out first hand if Amsterdam is still a beacon of hope in an otherwise dark nation. I will be frequenting as many "Moroccan" coffee shops as possible and, if the timing feels right, I'm gonna have to ask...

-HD

If you are referring to the site Expatica, my advice is just stop reading that page. Its made up of the biggest malcontents and whiners I have ever seen. They all have an axe to grind and really hate this place.

I am convinced a fair number of the posters there married a Dutch spouse and moved to a small town here and are finding out their life sucks.

wietroker · Post by **wietroker** » Tue 26th Oct 2010 10:45 am

roker wrote:It's a shame we can't post sounds...if I could, it'd be a round of applause...

Why?

wietroker · Post by **wietroker** » Tue 26th Oct 2010 10:48 am

Marco wrote:If you are referring to the site Expatica, my advice is just stop reading that page. Its made up of the biggest malcontents and whiners I have ever seen. They all have an axe to grind and really hate this place.

I am convinced a fair number of the posters there married a Dutch spouse and moved to a small town here and are finding out their life sucks.

yep, the idiots on there always talk about marrying their "Dutchie" and "where can I get X or Y just like at home" etc. They are always moaning and whining about life here. I think that says more about them than it does NL.

Yes, it is not perfect, but it has a damn many advantages over other countries, and I'm not even talking about the coffeeshops.

hippy_man99 · Post by **hippy_man99** » Tue 26th Oct 2010 02:42 pm

wietroker wrote:
yep, the idiots on there always talk about marrying their "Dutchie" and "where can I get X or Y just like at home" etc. They are always moaning and whining about life here. I think that says more about them than it does NL.

Yes, it is not perfect, but it has a damn many advantages over other countries, and I'm not even talking about the coffeeshops.

\

yeah I stopped looking there maybe 2-3 months after moving to NL.... It just depressed me beyond belief how much these people bitched and moaned about how horrible the country was.....well If you don't like it then why the fuck did you move there?

I wish I was back in Leiden...

hippy_man99 · Post by **hippy_man99** » Tue 26th Oct 2010 02:43 pm

wietroker wrote:
yep, the idiots on there always talk about marrying their "Dutchie" and "where can I get X or Y just like at home" etc. They are always moaning and whining about life here. I think that says more about them than it does NL.

Yes, it is not perfect, but it has a damn many advantages over other countries, and I'm not even talking about the coffeeshops.

\

yeah I stopped looking there maybe 2-3 months after moving to NL.... It just depressed me beyond belief how much these people bitched and moaned about how horrible the country was.....well If you don't like it then why the fuck did you move there?

I wish I was back in Leiden...

SGawain235 · Post by **SGawain235** » Tue 26th Oct 2010 03:20 pm

wietroker wrote:
yep, the idiots on there always talk about marrying their "Dutchie" and "where can I get X or Y just like at home" etc. They are always moaning and whining about life here. I think that says more about them than it does NL.

Yes, it is not perfect, but it has a damn many advantages over other countries, and I'm not even talking about the coffeeshops.

Yeah. Even though I have no desire to move to the Netherlands or anywhere else in Europe for that matter(because I SUCK at learning foreign languages) I did see the obvious merit of the places in Europe I visited. They all seem like very nice places but the(very reasonable) request that I learn the language and (also very reasonable)blend more with the culture is more than I can realistically do.

And, to be blunt, not even the Dutch Girl of Extreme Attractiveness(seriously, she was very impressive in physical appearance as well as attractiveness of personality) could have convinced me otherwise.

I just hope they can keep the shops open to Evil Foriegners(such as myself) until April 30.

ftcarer · Post by **ftcarer** » Fri 29th Oct 2010 06:50 pm

***** this is just a bit of info/opinion gathered from a few c/s owners/employers namely HB/Voyagers, Jon( I think tall guy dark hair)/GA, The guy at Paradox, guy at YoYo ,the guy at Overkant Hortus, the guy at Media & the A1 bt at Anyday*****

The opinion seems to be that stopping tourists(weed or otherwise) will not go ahead in Amsterdam or bigger cities.
But that most if not all smaller towns/villages councils/mayors especially those within a certain distance of borders will be given full power to put it in to practise .
The guy at paradox put as , " smaller villages are pretty sick of their 1 c/s being packed by tourists who have just popped over the border , while no other shops or services are getting any benefit form them being there while having to put up with the increase in traffic , noise , more pollution , rubbish .

Dave near London · Post by **Dave near London** » Fri 29th Oct 2010 07:53 pm

That would be an excellent compromise - maintaining the overall attractiveness of Amsterdam and other cities as tourism + weed / hash centre , and satisfying the near border issues. Lets hope thats the worst of it ..