Amsterdam Coffeeshop Directory Forums

This is from a dutch government site.

http://www.government.nl/issues/alcohol ... arket.html

geoffk wrote:There are some good points here, with the exception of no. 2

joossy wrote:2. Think of the US. There is a federal law against cannabis, yet California and 15 other states have acted LOCALLY to provide it's use medicinally. This is the best analogy.

I don't think this is a good analogy because:

a) The US feds do persecute dispensaries right now. They are being raided and shut down by the feds. I've seen at least 5 dispensaries shut down in the last year in my area of Colorado. Most shut down on their own as the local laws became too constricting. The raids seem to happen in Denver and SoCal.
b) Tourists cannot come to medical marijuana states and purchase pot from dispensaries. So yeah, not like the Nederlands at all.

I would like to remain optimistic...

Hi Geoff - just want to pick up on your point b) - not entirely true. Tourists from other states and even from other countries can purchase from dispensaries in Oregon for example as long as they have a rec from an in state doctor.
It is possible that Oregon is not the only MMJ state that allows out of state patients. For example on Weed Wars there was a retired guy who flew in to try some Harborside product. Although California is such a big state it is possible he came in from SoCal I think he was out of state too.

as far as tourism, it's not too far a stretch to say there's as many people attracted to Amsterdam for the coffeeshops/RLD as are deterred from visiting for the exact same reasons.

TwoCanucks wrote:as far as tourism, it's not too far a stretch to say there's as many people attracted to Amsterdam for the coffeeshops/RLD as are deterred from visiting for the exact same reasons.

What? That makes no sense at all. You are not forced to go to the RDL or CS when in Amsterdam. I have a friend who has never smoked a thing in his life, and along with his girlfriend, they went to Amsterdam for the weekend and did not go to 1 CS as they don't smoke, but instead to the museums etc. While I personally did not see the point (if you're in dam you HAVE to smoke! ), the RDL and CS in no way deterred them from visiting.

I am not talking about your friend and people who go to amsterdam.

there is a LARGE segment of the population on this planet who are not interested in visiting amsterdam because of the pot and prostitution.

there is also a LARGE segment of the population that is attracted to amsterdam because of the pot and prostitution.

and there is another LARGE segment that doesn't give a shit and goes for the history and everything else (your friends).

wake up, see the big picture... the people with the most money (those nearing or in retirement,) make up the majority of vacationers who spend big bucks on travel and tourism. they, for the most part, are a demographic that doesn't smoke weed or service prostitutes... these are the people that have influence, and these are the people that will be attracted to amsterdam if there wasnt a stigma attached to it.

you don't have to smoke when there, but a huge group of people stay away because of the "stories" surrounding AMS.

that makes sense -- it's a fact -- just ask your parents and see their response... or if not them your older neighbours.

TwoCanucks wrote:as far as tourism, it's not too far a stretch to say there's as many people attracted to Amsterdam for the coffeeshops/RLD as are deterred from visiting for the exact same reasons.

Interesting point - you'd wonder how large this percentage of people is though... Lots of cities in Europe have RLDs - Barcelona, Prague, many others - not sure how much people are put off by this.

I suppose there is a definite association of Amsterdam with sleaze which would put people off. I'd imagine its offset by the fact that its got such an amazing art collection though. I'm thinking that the government must have some strategy in place to attract more visitors if this weed pass happens so it will be interesting to see what that strategy is.

TwoCanucks wrote:I am not talking about your friend and people who go to amsterdam.

there is a LARGE segment of the population on this planet who are not interested in visiting amsterdam because of the pot and prostitution.

there is also a LARGE segment of the population that is attracted to amsterdam because of the pot and prostitution.

and there is another LARGE segment that doesn't give a shit and goes for the history and everything else (your friends).

wake up, see the big picture... the people with the most money (those nearing or in retirement,) make up the majority of vacationers who spend big bucks on travel and tourism. they, for the most part, are a demographic that doesn't smoke weed or service prostitutes... these are the people that have influence, and these are the people that will be attracted to amsterdam if there wasnt a stigma attached to it.

you don't have to smoke when there, but a huge group of people stay away because of the "stories" surrounding AMS.

that makes sense -- it's a fact -- just ask your parents and see their response... or if not them your older neighbours.

Don't really agree either, imo the percentage of people who wouldn't visit because of c/s rl district is very very small. Amsterdam is not a holiday destination its a short break destination. People who do short breaks imo would not be put off going to ams.

you are entitled to your opinion, even if it's wrong.

i'm a financial planner and based on my first hand experience dealing with people who have high amounts of disposible income -- amsterdam's image is tarnished by the coffeeshops and rld.

it doesn't matter that other cities have rld, or that you can buy marijuana elsewhere in the netherlands... there is a stigma attached to the city because of it's liberal approach to weed.

not worth arguing because there's too much in this thread already based on assumption and hearsay...

so whatever, i'm moving on to the real issues... like crawls and tnts.

TwoCanucks wrote:you are entitled to your opinion, even if it's wrong.

i'm a financial planner and based on my first hand experience dealing with people who have high amounts of disposible income -- amsterdam's image is tarnished by the coffeeshops and rld.

it doesn't matter that other cities have rld, or that you can buy marijuana elsewhere in the netherlands... there is a stigma attached to the city because of it's liberal approach to weed.

not worth arguing because there's too much in this thread already based on assumption and hearsay...

so whatever, i'm moving on to the real issues... like crawls and tnts.

Oh you're a financial planner you must be right then

joossy wrote:

TwoCanucks wrote:you are entitled to your opinion, even if it's wrong.

i'm a financial planner and based on my first hand experience dealing with people who have high amounts of disposible income -- amsterdam's image is tarnished by the coffeeshops and rld.

it doesn't matter that other cities have rld, or that you can buy marijuana elsewhere in the netherlands... there is a stigma attached to the city because of it's liberal approach to weed.

not worth arguing because there's too much in this thread already based on assumption and hearsay...

so whatever, i'm moving on to the real issues... like crawls and tnts.

Oh you're a financial planner you must be right then

as i said, speaking from experience, not out my ASS.

treetop wrote:Hi Geoff - just want to pick up on your point b) - not entirely true. Tourists from other states and even from other countries can purchase from dispensaries in Oregon for example as long as they have a rec from an in state doctor.

Ah, you're right treetop, I had forgotten. The tourists must be US citizens, I believe.

TwoCanucks wrote: the people with the most money (those nearing or in retirement,) make up the majority of vacationers who spend big bucks on travel and tourism. they, for the most part, are a demographic that doesn't smoke weed or service prostitutes... these are the people that have influence, and these are the people that will be attracted to amsterdam if there wasnt a stigma attached to it.

I think it's the opposite.
People today of retirement age are more likely to be of the generation that came of age in the 60s and are even more likely to enjoy smoking pot.
Prostitutes are irrelevant, since they are everywhere. Unlike pot, there's no need to need to visit Holland to get sex.

I've seen a very interesting sheet of statistics in regards to tourists and percentage of how many visit coffeeshops. I seem to recall a high percentage of Spanish cannabis tourists, but then they took it a step further and the results showed that while there were the most visits from Spaniards, Americans ONLY visit for the cannabis and would not visit for other reasons, while the Spanish would visit for museums and other sites. I wish I could find that again.

Surfer Joe wrote:Prostitutes are irrelevant, since they are everywhere. Unlike pot, there's no need to need to visit Holland to get sex.

ORLY? I betcha there's a whole other group that would disagree. Ignatz Mice anyone?

TwoCanucks wrote:

joossy wrote:

TwoCanucks wrote:you are entitled to your opinion, even if it's wrong.

i'm a financial planner and based on my first hand experience dealing with people who have high amounts of disposible income -- amsterdam's image is tarnished by the coffeeshops and rld.

it doesn't matter that other cities have rld, or that you can buy marijuana elsewhere in the netherlands... there is a stigma attached to the city because of it's liberal approach to weed.

not worth arguing because there's too much in this thread already based on assumption and hearsay...

so whatever, i'm moving on to the real issues... like crawls and tnts.

Oh you're a financial planner you must be right then

as i said, speaking from experience, not out my ASS.

Maybe you not experienced enough to make the generalization then because I would like to hear exactly how coffeeshops put large groups of people off coming to Amsterdam, fear of being attacked by a stoner? Seriously if someone wants to see the buildings & canals and numerous beautiful other sites and attractions their hardly going to not come because of some small shops they needn't go in.

I've seen a very interesting sheet of statistics in regards to tourists and percentage of how many visit coffeeshops. I seem to recall a high percentage of Spanish cannabis tourists, but then they took it a step further and the results showed that while there were the most visits from Spaniards, Americans ONLY visit for the cannabis and would not visit for other reasons, while the Spanish would visit for museums and other sites. I wish I could find that again.


Really like this, as your 100% right - read spanish as european and it makes a lot of sense - a europeans view will be totally different to that of an american.