Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

NRC Handelsblad just had an article today about a committee report out today wanting coffeeshops to cater to locals only as well as raising drinking age to 18 from 16. Hopefully someone with more of a clue than me can put up links to the article. Let's all hope that this never happens!!

i dnt mind the drinking age actually im in favour of it i am against however the serving locals only unless by locals they mean eu members hehe

Here in the UK the drinking age is 18, we get loads (and I mean loads) of drunk related vioience/disturbances, now in Holland its 16 and apart from the local lads singing 'she'll be coming round the mountain when she comes' (in Dutch) at 2 in the morning I've never witnessed any drinking problems, unless the stats say otherwise I think its a bad move.

The local thing has been banded around for ages, I doubt it'll ever happen.

Whats new! i bet they would just have us all buying tulips & then sending us home with a set of clogs.

They'd like to, and it might help reduce the influx of foreigners with money.

But ironically, EU law won't allow it.

doobydave wrote:They'd like to, and it might help reduce the influx of foreigners with money.

But ironically, EU law won't allow it.

Tourism is BIG for amsterdam,The guy who owns the place where i stay says "stoners" feed a lot of mouths in amsterdam & that he personaly knows tons of coffeeshops owners,He went on to say that any ban will never happen as they are just to much oposition to justify it as such.

I see three possible futures for cannabis cafes in Holland:

1. It continues basically the same as it now

2. They try to substantially decrease the number of coffeeshops leading to larger chains like bulldog, dampkring but fewer overall shops

3. Keeping the shops the same, but only allowing nederlandse citizens. This would lead to a drop-off in the touristy-type shops.

puffpuffgive wrote:I see three possible futures for cannabis cafes in Holland:

1. It continues basically the same as it now

2. They try to substantially decrease the number of coffeeshops leading to larger chains like bulldog, dampkring but fewer overall shops

3. Keeping the shops the same, but only allowing nederlandse citizens. This would lead to a drop-off in the touristy-type shops.

They will keep them on there toes thats for sure,I dont think they will have an outright ban but they will keep a lid on things ie the size of coffeeshop chains & so forth like you said.

puffpuffgive wrote:I see three possible futures for cannabis cafes in Holland:

1. It continues basically the same as it now

2. They try to substantially decrease the number of coffeeshops leading to larger chains like bulldog, dampkring but fewer overall shops

3. Keeping the shops the same, but only allowing nederlandse citizens. This would lead to a drop-off in the touristy-type shops.

And create a small explosion in cannabis related crime at the same time.

Stoners will never stop coming to Amsterdam, and weed/hash will always be available, whether it be by quasi legal status or by illegal ways, stoners will get stoned.

I have the funniest feeling with the recent swing to the right in politics across Europe this is a possibility.

Keep coffee shops for locals: commission
03/07/2009

Measure will be considered by the national government in a re-evaluation of its soft-drug policies.

The Hague – Dutch coffee shops that sell cannabis should should cater mainly for local people and not bulk-buying drugs tourists from abroad, a government commission proposed Thursday.

"Coffee shops should again become what they were originally meant to be: vending points for local users and not large-scale suppliers to consumers from neighbouring countries," said the body.

"In some aspects, the situation has gotten out of hand," it added.

The commission was set up in February to advise the government in a re-evaluation of soft-drug policy, in large part due to an influx of German, French and Belgian drugs tourists in border areas.

The government should consider turning coffee shops, establishments with special licences to sell marijuana, into private members' clubs, it recommended.

This has already been done in the southern Limburg province, which announced recently its coffee shops would in future sell soft drugs only to patrons with membership cards.

And last September, Roosendaal and Bergen-op-Zoom, two other border councils, announced in March the closure from September of all eight their coffee shops in a bid to curb the "nuisance" of 25,000 drug tourists per week.

The Netherlands decriminalised the consumption and possession of under five grammes of cannabis in 1976, though its cultivation remains illegal.

There are some 700 licensed coffee shops, allowed to stock no more than 500 grams of cannabis at a time.

A coffee shop owner will go on trial in November for allegedly storing more than the allowed amount of cannabis on site in what is being seen as a test case.

The commission said Thursday it supported neither the banning nor the full legalisation of cannabis.

Its report will form the basis of a re-evaluation government drug policy, due to be presented to parliament in September, justice ministry spokesman Wim van der Weegen told AFP.

Source

lets hope this guy walks come november,Really its time for people to waken up now.