Dutch election topic
Re: Dutch election topic
back on topic the Socialists are still gaining slowly. read in the news that an SP/PvdA coalition is the most plausible with a few smaller parties to join to get over the 50% needed to govern.
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Re: Dutch election topic
any news?
thinking sept is when we're gonna know whats up.
hows things looking for the weed pass?
thinking sept is when we're gonna know whats up.
hows things looking for the weed pass?
Re: Dutch election topic
Dutch elections: the battle for the stoner vote
In the Netherlands, the political party hoping to repeal laws banning the sale of weed to foreigners is banking on getting smokers out to vote on Wednesday. But will they bother?
When the Netherlands goes to the polls on Wednesday, the result could hinge on one, previously overlooked section of the electorate: the stoner vote.
More than 350 Dutch coffee shops have thrown their weight behind a grassroots campaign in support of the leftwing Socialist Party (SP), which has pledged to end the political crackdown on shops that sell marijuana. Staff have been selling skunk in SP T-shirts and handing out branded filter-tips. And the stakes are high: many believe that the parliamentary elections will be make-or-break day for the Dutch coffee shops.
It's now four months since the "weed pass" was introduced in the south of the Netherlands, designating coffee shops as private clubs open only to Dutch residents. For some, revenue has declined by as much as 60%. Foreigners no longer show up, and neither do locals. "They don't want to be registered as smokers," explains campaign leader Nol van Schaik. The number of street dealers has reportedly sky-rocketed; recently a nine-year-old was caught offering weed to passersby in the city of Geleen. And on 1 January next year, the weed pass will be extended to the rest of the country.
No more spliffs or hash brownies for tourists in Amsterdam, the coffee shops believe, unless voters get behind the SP, which has promised to abolish the weed pass, legalise marijuana and use the extra taxes to help reduce the deficit. Which is why, with a campaign budget of more than €100,000, the SP promo tour has been travelling to 23 towns, complete with a US school bus equipped with a DJ booth, and an "awareness limousine". Two planes towing banners fly along the coast on sunny days. Dozens of radio commercials are airing on a popular youth station.
At least 10 parties are likely to get a seat in parliament and several have pro-cannabis views, but coffee shops pledged support for the SP when the elections looked like a two-horse race between the SP and the "liberal" VVD, which supports the "weed pass". Recently the Labour party started surging in the polls.
"We still support the SP but if Labour keeps rising we might give last minute advice to vote for them. They also want to abandon the weed pass. We have to vote strategically to stop the VVD from pursuing its disastrous policy," says Van Schaik.
The "stoner vote" has significant potential: according to addiction specialists the Trimbos Institute, 466,000 Dutch people smoke at least once a month. There's one problem: while smokers might like to discuss politics over a spliff, they rarely make it to the voting booth, says Eddie Wolfkamp, owner of the New Balance in Zwolle. "It's a challenge. You have to tickle them quite a bit."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/shortcu ... toner-vote
In the Netherlands, the political party hoping to repeal laws banning the sale of weed to foreigners is banking on getting smokers out to vote on Wednesday. But will they bother?
When the Netherlands goes to the polls on Wednesday, the result could hinge on one, previously overlooked section of the electorate: the stoner vote.
More than 350 Dutch coffee shops have thrown their weight behind a grassroots campaign in support of the leftwing Socialist Party (SP), which has pledged to end the political crackdown on shops that sell marijuana. Staff have been selling skunk in SP T-shirts and handing out branded filter-tips. And the stakes are high: many believe that the parliamentary elections will be make-or-break day for the Dutch coffee shops.
It's now four months since the "weed pass" was introduced in the south of the Netherlands, designating coffee shops as private clubs open only to Dutch residents. For some, revenue has declined by as much as 60%. Foreigners no longer show up, and neither do locals. "They don't want to be registered as smokers," explains campaign leader Nol van Schaik. The number of street dealers has reportedly sky-rocketed; recently a nine-year-old was caught offering weed to passersby in the city of Geleen. And on 1 January next year, the weed pass will be extended to the rest of the country.
No more spliffs or hash brownies for tourists in Amsterdam, the coffee shops believe, unless voters get behind the SP, which has promised to abolish the weed pass, legalise marijuana and use the extra taxes to help reduce the deficit. Which is why, with a campaign budget of more than €100,000, the SP promo tour has been travelling to 23 towns, complete with a US school bus equipped with a DJ booth, and an "awareness limousine". Two planes towing banners fly along the coast on sunny days. Dozens of radio commercials are airing on a popular youth station.
At least 10 parties are likely to get a seat in parliament and several have pro-cannabis views, but coffee shops pledged support for the SP when the elections looked like a two-horse race between the SP and the "liberal" VVD, which supports the "weed pass". Recently the Labour party started surging in the polls.
"We still support the SP but if Labour keeps rising we might give last minute advice to vote for them. They also want to abandon the weed pass. We have to vote strategically to stop the VVD from pursuing its disastrous policy," says Van Schaik.
The "stoner vote" has significant potential: according to addiction specialists the Trimbos Institute, 466,000 Dutch people smoke at least once a month. There's one problem: while smokers might like to discuss politics over a spliff, they rarely make it to the voting booth, says Eddie Wolfkamp, owner of the New Balance in Zwolle. "It's a challenge. You have to tickle them quite a bit."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/shortcu ... toner-vote
