we've been banned....official.

[firesmoka]

hey ,
ive got some news from maastricht --> http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/05/0 ... CG20120501
and some pics
protest against the wietpass ...






easy going => marc joseman





wait & see ...

[youngian]

Great pics, thanks for the reportage.

[snottybluntz]

Thanks for the update Grey Area i will deffo pop in July and hope this all blow over quick!

[Thomasbandit]

Has anyone heard from any residents if they've actually got their 'wietpas' yet? For all the talk about it I get the impression the admin side of it has been completely ignored as if nothing has actually really been setup. For example, could one go and register with several coffeeshops or does it all take a period of time to be officially registered?

[radjew]

you can only have membership to 1 CS .. wondering around at your leisure is a thing of the past. From what I read there has been very little subscription to the system in term of people filling in paperwork.

[BigDanHaze]

Thanks for posting this, glad to see people are fighting the good fight, very encouraging.

[Thomasbandit]

Sorry wasn't too clear but say I walked into one and registered, and then did the same in another straight after. Unless they're all hooked up to the same database how would they know to reject me at the second? Do you register and then get to buy weed and smoke immediately? I can't see anyone wanting to register to then have to go home until they get their approval; it'd be like going to signup to a gym when they make you have an induction. Otherwise though surely (if this worked) the second coffeeshop had broken a rule and we all know what eventually happens with coffeeshops and breaking rules - they get shutdown.

The logistics behind such an operation, particularly with the sensitivity of private data and the technical aspects, would be huge and very expensive. It just all sounds like a cowboy job the way its been done waiting to collapse pretty quickly, part of me hopes this isn't intentional and they know by the time it's collapsed most of the coffeeshops will be destroyed - when everyone knows they're not handing out new licences.

[radjew]

Not that I'm an expert but I think you need paperwork from the Gementee to show you live in the same city as where you are buying thus need to be registered at a fixed address (which you are supposed to be anyway). I'm not too sure on who holds the data tbh but would have thought that dutch system would want everything centralized where I guess they find out your in two 'clubs'. Be difficult to enforce the 2000 max. otherwise. Haven't seen the actual legislation document so not adamant and won't be giving my details anywhere to find out.

[ed the head]

hey ,
ive got some news from maastricht --> http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/05/0 ... CG20120501
and some pics
protest against the wietpass ...




wait & see ...

Great pics, thanks for posting the article, very encouraging.

[notsofasteddie]

More Protest Pictures - Coffeeshop Nieuws


http://www.coffeeshopnieuws.nl

[Xplore]

Yesterday was a bad day for coffeeshops that followed the new rules. Grasscompany Tilburg only got 50 registered customers in one day, the other shops in the Grasscompany chain got less. In the smaller cities there are examples of coffeeshops that only got 1 (!) registered customer in one day. Many customers don't want to get registered because of privacy issues, since no one knows who is going to be able to see the coffeeshopregistrations... Insurance companies, banks, medical services?

[ynwa]

Thing is, im sure all the locals know someone who grows or sells on the blackmarket. Now why would you register when you could just go to these other dealers. Hopefully this gets overturned before most coffee shops close down. Because once they're gone theyre gone. If they do reverse it later the coffee shops will not be the same. Which will a huge shame.

[sea72]

http://www.rnw.nl/english/video/fresh-p ... kes-effect

[ed the head]

http://www.rnw.nl/english/video/fresh-p ... kes-effect

Encouraging

[treetop]

http://www.rnw.nl/english/video/fresh-p ... kes-effect

So instead of going in a coffeeshop and paying 13eu a gram I can now go to Holland and get the same weed on the street for 6eu. Seems like every cloud has a silver lining after all....

I'm sure no one is going to come up to me in the bar where I'm smoking the weed and ask me for my Wietpass either.

The ironic thing is the gentleman interviewed at the end of that piece is precisely the type of person that has been demonized by the government as being someone who is profiting from the illegal side of the coffeeshop trade. Seems like the Wietpass is going to improve his business while the poor coffeeshops that try and follow the rules go bust.

Really, how stupid is the Dutch government?

Will there be an increase in drug/gang related violence as a result of this law I wonder.....