Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

I'd like to think we could use the good energy on threads like these to power a few posts discussing options for toking tourism both in the Netherlands and beyond should the wietpas be enforced countrywide.

It may end up being some kind of legal loophole that can be used which we can find out if we keep our collective ears to the ground about this subject.

Or something else entirely. Even if the wietpas goes through in a watertight form all over we should be prepared. If the best happens instead then we still should be prepared.....

To party


ps = yes I did it. I created my own 'wietpas' thread.

treetop wrote:
ps = yes I did it. I created my own 'wietpas' thread.

Yeh, we really needed another thread full of pure speculation!

treetop wrote:I'd like to think we could use the good energy on threads like these to power a few posts discussing options for toking tourism both in the Netherlands and beyond should the wietpas be enforced countrywide.

It may end up being some kind of legal loophole that can be used which we can find out if we keep our collective ears to the ground about this subject.

Or something else entirely. Even if the wietpas goes through in a watertight form all over we should be prepared. If the best happens instead then we still should be prepared.....

To party


ps = yes I did it. I created my own 'wietpas' thread.

Mate who knows whats going to happen, maybe another European country /city, but I dont see it yet. I think worst case in Holland is it's back on the streets for a while, and for the rest of us, we are where we are and no change other than an easing of the rules. I dont see any "open to all" coffeeshops appearing round my neighborhood anytime soon.

Shame really, but it's what I've said for a while that the Dutch tolerance approach was never meant to be free unlimited license and it's a surprise to me that the backlash has taken so long. Which in a way is a testament to the tolerance of the Dutch. .

I dont travel a lot, but I understand Spain and Portugal have liberated their weed smokers quite a bit, and those countries and the Iberian culture are as charming and fascinating as that of any part of Europe.
Or maybe it's our turn to spend loads of money and hours travelling across the Atlantic. Westwards. .

Yeah but the last thing the Portugese and Spanish want is the worlds stoners descending on their countries because they are no longer welcome in The Netherlands, they will soon clamp down also if that happens as uncle ron put it, "stoners are their own worst enemies" and i tend to agree with him. What will happen is that the "drugtourists" (hate that term) will wreck it for them just like they have nearly done for the dutch. I was in Salou for a weeks beach holiday and i must admit good weed is sooo easy to get but it has been as long as I have been going to Spain (13 years).

The issue for me is that id not be treated in the same way as the locals post 1-1-13 in Dam. Sure, going elsewhere would all most certainly mean street dealing. But at least everyone would be in the same situation.

The way id see Amsterdam is that the tourists would be an extra line of income for the street dealers where some dealers would buy off the coffeeshops that remain open as a deal between the coffeeshops and the dealers on the streets and then the tourists would sell the coffeeshop gear on at a relative big mark-up of say 20% or more higher than the coffeeshop menu prices. There must be some desperate people out there if they would accept such a possible situation of a second rate service at stupid prices or buy shit off the other street dealer instead.

The way I see it the worst case scenario is the new cabinet with hardline VVD justice minister in place comes up with workable wietpas that is enforced countrywide.
At that point do we really need to be staggering out of the WC with our collective pants around our ankles exclaiming 'now what!'

My point is to be prepared. Be it Copenhagen, NE Spain, Portugal, USA. Hungary, BC. Wherever it may be.

Let us not be our worst enemies.

HasAnyoneSeenMyPipe wrote:Yeah but the last thing the Portugese and Spanish want is the worlds stoners descending on their countries because they are no longer welcome in The Netherlands, they will soon clamp down also if that happens as uncle ron put it, "stoners are their own worst enemies" and i tend to agree with him. What will happen is that the "drugtourists" (hate that term) will wreck it for them just like they have nearly done for the dutch. I was in Salou for a weeks beach holiday and i must admit good weed is sooo easy to get but it has been as long as I have been going to Spain (13 years).

Unfortunately +1...
Imagine you (general term meaning anyone) are a citizen in a country that has become the first to legalize cannabis.
You don't use it, doesn't do much for you, but you know people who do and they are chill, responsible adults.
Now here come the plethora of tourists/visitors/guests/unemployed immigrants who want to partake.
Let your imagination take you places you've dared not go before... Imagine Amsterdam or Eindhoven on steroids, but in your entire country.
They come, spend money, some shit all over the place, then (most) leave.
NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) might be fitting...

Let the great experiment end already and legalize the back door.
Next...
...

I'm prepared, but over the past few months I've decided that if it does eventually come to happen, that I'd still visit Amsterdam. For one I doubt we'd see an end to truffles any time soon, and like places like Prague, Barcelona, weed will still be available and I'm sure many a cafe and coffeeshop will remain accessible to people that want to smoke in them.

That said, the convenience and knowledge of the coffeeshops would be sorely missed.

Personally I think that eventually it will come to fruition. Coffeeshops imo are taking one of two types of stances: either they're closing down, or staying open with fruitful optimism for the short term, and oblivious ignorance for the long term.

The Bulldog's Facebook page, for example, is a case of a coffeeshop encouraging people to go there NOW (with rhetoric like "tourists welcome"), but whenever someone demands a direct answer for 2013, they reply with, "we can't answer that...but atm we welcome tourists".

That to me shows a fairly conservative approach to maintaining a strong consumer base and ensuring the store remains relevant before wietpas happens (if ever).

From a foreigners perspective though it just seems soooooo stupiddddd to just be so unequivocally against coffeeshops to the point where you ban tourists, knowing that tourists contribute a majority of the industry's revenue. It seems stupid because it's such a great culture, it's accessible, and, most importantly, it's prosperous and self-sustaining.

The best alternative to a wietpas would be to enhance licensing deals. Re-evaluate every single coffeeshop license. Cut some up if need be. But ensure there's industry accountability and at least some sort of commission, perhaps self-enforced monitoring, where license holders can be held accountable for breaches (violence, trouble, social issues, etc.)

At the moment it just seems like the government is taking a very rash, old-school nationalist approach that seems quite outrageous in Australia (and I'm sure the US).

It's over, shut it down...
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