Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

I don't think most of u understand how bad this is.... theres new people running adam these days and there one goal is 2 get rid of all the coffee shops that they can get rid of. key word (can). i aint sayin theres gonna be 2 shops left 2mmorow. but u can excpect the coffee shop number to probaly reach 100 by 2015. amsterdam aint the same nomore and will never be the same. no new coffee shops are getting a licence and probaly no more coffee shops r ever gonna open. Fuck that mayor

Thats been in the post for ages now! we can only hope the cull is not to savage,Still to loose HSB & bluebird would be a blow!.

seems like the new policy of shutting 26/28 coffee shops will be totally down to how the new redevelopment group sees fit and not in any particular order so it is a distinct possibitlity that any of the shops could close even the good ones. I get the feeling that this is the beginning of the end for coffee shops in the Netherlands.Even the recent newst hat in Limburg coffee shops will become member only in 09, combined with the Netherlands making a query on whether or not it would be legal to exclude tourists from coffee shops all seem to have the same genenral feeling.That the conservative government is highly against maybe legalization drug tourists and more besides.Worrying

For now the pendulum has swung to the right. We have to trust the Dutch citizens. There are a lot of coffeeshops. I would think that from the Dutch perspective there are too many. I suspect that some of the CS owners themselves would like to see fewer shops in order to strengthen their business. Many of the border towns are overrun by over indulging tourists every weekend. Much of the annoyance of the Dutch towards the CS’s is our unruly behavior. In other words, we are bringing this on ourselves. We tourists have to remember that this is where the Dutch raise their children. I trust that the Dutch will allow the current political situation with the coffeeshops to continue until they feel the number of shops is what they feel it should be. Then the pendulum will swing back in the other direction.

chilly1952 wrote:For now the pendulum has swung to the right. We have to trust the Dutch citizens. There are a lot of coffeeshops. I would think that from the Dutch perspective there are too many. I suspect that some of the CS owners themselves would like to see fewer shops in order to strengthen their business. Many of the border towns are overrun by over indulging tourists every weekend. Much of the annoyance of the Dutch towards the CS’s is our unruly behavior. In other words, we are bringing this on ourselves. We tourists have to remember that this is where the Dutch raise their children. I trust that the Dutch will allow the current political situation with the coffeeshops to continue until they feel the number of shops is what they feel it should be. Then the pendulum will swing back in the other direction.

Hear Hear!
the only way for people to take Coffeeshop businesses seriously is for it's patrons to act live civil adults, not the unruly touristy mob...

I brought a group of friends around the dam and I noticed a bit of an attitude... to be fair we looked like a group of college kids... not that we acted like it... but there is a hostility towards the rowdy drunken/high crowds...

if we start to act better perhaps the government won't be so inclined to close down shops....

peace,
hippy

.

Sombrero wrote: I'm more worried about some of the windows in the RLD getting changed into some fashion exhibition for example.

already saw that last time we visited....felt unreal and it really made me pissed off.
I mean, I am not the type to go to a prostitute and I never will, but I know many people use this service and I think everyone should do what he want to do as long as it doesnt hurt anyone else.
and to keep away the criminality its not the best to remove shops and the windows, it would be best to have legal growers who supply to the shops so they dont have to buy on the black market and search for the bad pimps who try to rip off the prostitutes, closing down the shops/windows will only bring more crime!
any government want to prove me wrong? I will give the person who does everything I have

I was really taken back last visit by how much smaller the RLD is now. I reckon it's about a third of the size it was 18 months ago.

I don't use the services when there but it's a bit like going to London and finding they've reduced Big Ben by 60 percent.

Don't know what the reasons for the down-scalling is but these things are usually a sign of change in effect and I worry for the effect it will have on the coffee shop business.

There seems to be a general feeling among the population here that the coffeeshops and the whole marijuana decriminlization is going to dissappear. They feel that the current right swing in the political parties, the fact there is no real centre or left alternative, only right or far right, is going to cause the next government to cave to the demands of those countries around them and reclassify marijuana as criminal again.

Of course, while I am sure the government would do that, I am pretty sure the people of The Netherlands wouldn't stand for the infringement upon their rights and would actually protest it causing the decision to be reversed.

It will be interesting to see what happens, but yes I do believe that the existence as we currently know it in The Netherlands is under threat. Whether it's a good or a bad thing remains to be seen

What's the feeling locally for the current mayor?

I certainly felt last trip that the streets seemed too be a lot cleaner and the mood was far more friendly walking around. I noticed there were quite a large number of police officers about which certainly made me as a tourist feel much safer.

SoulRider wrote:There seems to be a general feeling among the population here that the coffeeshops and the whole marijuana decriminlization is going to dissappear.

I haven't seen you at any of the city council meetings, the Parool meetings, or any of the cannabis events. Where do you get your information?

How do you feel about D66, SP, and the PvDA? Are you farmiliar with their platforms? Do you know when the next election is? Did you know Burgermeister Cohen has backed off the closing and has the right to do nothing until after the next elections?

I think you peoples are very very ill informed. There is alot going on in Amterdam right now and there is no chance the Coffeeshops are going to close. Did you know there are licenses still available for coffeeshops?

There are no "new guys" running things. Geeezzzzz!!

I am only picking on you because you live here too. The other guys only know what they read and if you give them false information then it hurts us all Andy. Where did you get your "general feeling" at? I have never felt that and I am in the thick of the cannabis community here for years now.

It seems like some people and the authorities have forgotten how the tolerated coffeeshop situation arose in the first place. The government didn't wake up one morning and suddenly think, "We should take it a bit easier on pot users". It was fought for (I believe, as I wasn't there). People were arrested, but the pot still flowed in and out of cafes without 'licences' from the government.

Basically, there was enough public, or semi-public disobedience to cause the authorities embarrassment at their failing efforts to stop marijuana use.

There will be no benefits from removing these license (except perhaps a reduction in groups of high youths roaming the streets like they can't get arrested unless a real crime is committed). I still maintain that having legal alcohol and prostitution is more likely to attract those groups of nuisance tourists.

The currently illegal supply and distribution network will still want the cash, and the current purchasers will still want their pot.


I can't help wondering what the situation in Britain would be if there were 25-50 cafes opened up following the example of the one in Lancing. This well established coffeeshop has been open a long time, but news of it never goes national. The general public need to appreciate that this 'problem' will never go away.

The real danger is that Netherlands citizens see the clean up as a good thing and continue to vote for the conservative leadership they have now.If this happens the people lobbying against the coffeeshops and the rld will have a bigger base of support.Does anyone really believe that the current reforming regime wont in time look to close all coffeeshops if they continue to have widespread support?I mean the Netherlands have made a request to the eu court of human rights to see about the legality of limiting coffee shop use to Dutch citizens only.This for me is a definite sign of intent.
I see some of their points to be sure, the mess created by some along with the lack of respect shown for the city by tourists would annoy me if I were a local too.I think we need to hope that the netherlands cannot afford to be without the revenue the tourism brings.Because if it can survive without it then I feel they may veer back towards decriminalization rather than the current legalization.Worrying....

redeyed wrote:seems like the new policy of shutting 26/28 coffee shops will be totally down to how the new redevelopment group sees fit and not in any particular order so it is a distinct possibitlity that any of the shops could close even the good ones. I get the feeling that this is the beginning of the end for coffee shops in the Netherlands.Even the recent newst hat in Limburg coffee shops will become member only in 09, combined with the Netherlands making a query on whether or not it would be legal to exclude tourists from coffee shops all seem to have the same genenral feeling.That the conservative government is highly against maybe legalization drug tourists and more besides.Worrying

Hey that limberg thing has fallen threw



http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2 ... e_fall.php

milehigh wrote: Did you know there are licenses still available for coffeeshops?

There are no "new guys" running things. Geeezzzzz!!

interesting