Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

Just read this in a dutch newspaper and at Yahoo news.





ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AFP) – In a novel bid to combat illegal cannabis cultivation,
Dutch authorities started handing out 30,000
cards with a marijuana odour Monday to alert
citizens to what their neighbours may be up to. "Citizens must be alerted to the dangers they
face as a result of these plantations, and if they
become aware of any suspect situations they
must report them," Arnie Loos, spokesman for
a government-appointed working group on
cannabis cultivation, told journalists in the port city of Rotterdam. Though it remains technically illegal, the
Netherlands decriminalised the consumption
and possession of under five grammes (0.18
ounces) of cannabis in 1976 under a
"tolerance" policy. Authorities turn a blind eye to citizens growing
no more than five plants for personal use. Bulk
cannabis cultivation and retail remain illegal
and are in the hands of criminal organisations
in a black-market business worth some two
billion euros (2.8 billion dollars) annually. "Assist in combatting cannabis plantations!"
reads the green scratch-card of about 20
centimetres by 10 (eight inches by four) being
distributed to residents of the western cities of
The Hague and Rotterdam. With two boxes that release a cannabis odour
when scratched, the card also lists a police telephone number
On the back are listed other indicators of
possible urban cannabis cultivation: the sound
of ventilators, curtains that are kept closed,
suspicious connections to electricity supply
points, and of course ... the smell. Organisers said the project, a pilot for possible
expansion, was a first for the Netherlands. "If people do in fact call the number listed on
the card, we could make this a national
operation," Loos told journalists, standing in
the middle of about 200 plants of what he
called "green gold" in the attic of an apartment
building in Rotterdam. "One plant yields 50 grammes of cannabis five
times per year. One kilogramme sells for 3,500
euros. This plantation could earn more than
100,000 euros per year," Loos told AFP. The walls of the room that contained the
plantation were covered in aluminium foil used
as an insulator to keep the temperature at the
27 degrees Celsius necessary for cannabis
cultivation. Electric cables fed lamps that
heated the plants from underneath, near to a tank filled with water. "When one messes with electricity
connections, one risks electrocution, fire," said
Jeroen de Swart, director of gas and electricity
distribution company Stedin that is a partner in
the awareness-raising project. Authorities believe there are some 40,000
illegal cannabis plantations in the Netherlands
-- hidden away in attics, apartments or
warehouses. About 6,000 plantations are busted every year. Of these about 300, each with between 600
and 1,000 plants, were uncovered in
Rotterdam alone, said Richard Anderiesse, a
spokesman for the city's cannabis task force.

Someone's already posted that, in the 'random' thread!

Sorry didn't saw it,my fault

Its cool, was just letting you know! Its pretty intresting, i'd have thought that most folk in Holland would know what weed smells like haha

You think everybody knows with all the cs here but you will be surprised that a lot of them don't know or ever seen some weed.

safer99 wrote:You think everybody knows with all the cs here but you will be surprised that a lot of them don't know or ever seen some weed.

Now that, is crazy!

Hahaha i know. Cs still has a reputation of beeing bad,scary place that "normal" people won't go to.But as we know all kinds of people are coming there. Yeah a lot of small minded people in this world.

wouldnt say small minded as they r not interested in it, ive no interest in figure skatein n wouldnt know what the moves n stuff are but i bet they wouldnt call me small minded because of that.

I mean apart from a few places in holland theres not a large build up of cs's n the smell when growing to end results r different and with carbon filters a lot harder to detect. there r many more tell tale signs other than smell.

Your right,i shouldn't called it small minded. I thiink less open minded is better.