Dutch Ban on Public Smoking Also Threatens Tradition of Social Marijuana Use AMSTERDAM -- The latest news from the mecca of marijuana users is a real mindblower. Under a new ban on smoking in public places, Dutch coffee shops would be allowed to continue selling joints, but customers would have to go outside to smoke them. To the chagrin of the owners of the country's popular marijuana smoking establishments, broad national health guidelines due to take effect next January seem to have inadvertently struck at the heart of the liberal Dutch drug policy. [continues 499 words]
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - The latest news from the mecca of marijuana users is a real mind-blower. Under a new ban on smoking in public places, Dutch coffee shops will be allowed to sell joints, but their customers will have to go outside to smoke them. To the chagrin of the owners of the country's popular smoking establishments, national health guidelines due to take effect next January seem to be inadvertently striking the heart of the liberal Dutch drugs policy. The first coffee shop selling marijuana and hashish opened in the Netherlands in 1972 and they now number more than 800 countrywide. In Amsterdam, millions of tourists a year sample the vast varieties advertised on menus. [continues 147 words]
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS - The latest news from the mecca of marijuana users is a real mindblower. Under a new ban on smoking in public places, Dutch coffee shops would be allowed to continue selling joints, but customers would have to go outside to smoke them. To the chagrin of the owners of the country's popular marijuana smoking establishments, broad national health guidelines due to take effect next January seem to have inadvertently struck at the heart of the Dutch drug policy. [continues 289 words]
EUROPE'S mecca for marijuana users has suffered a sobering shock. Under a new ban on smoking in public places, the infamous Dutch coffee shops can still sell joints, but their customers will have to go outside to smoke them. The Netherlands' new national health guidelines were aimed at second-hand smoke from tobacco, not marijuana. Due to take effect next January, they are fiercely contested by Dutch restaurateurs and bar owners. But they are also threatening to drive a stake into the heart of the liberal Dutch drugs policy. [continues 594 words]
For the Netherlands' famous network of cannabis-peddling coffee shops the high times could be about to be stubbed out - for good. A tough new anti-smoking law due to take effect from January of next year is about to turn the Dutch work place into a smoke-free zone and coffee shops are not exempted. Under the new law every company in the country must ensure that their employees are not exposed to tobacco smoke. Lighting up a joint in one of 800 coffee shops therefore faces extinction from 2005. [continues 266 words]
AMSTERDAM -- It takes about a five-minute walk after arriving at Central Station to realize you've just landed on Fantasy Island. With working girls shaking their thing and beckoning for business in bay windows, shopping that has an eye-opening amount of pornography and the tangy smell of marijuana wafting out every time a coffee shop door is opened, the anything-goes fantasy is not exactly for everyone. Touring the Red Light District, the lovely canals that run through it and the historic architecture is akin to studying the brain of an aging rock star who was blessed with a prodigious sense of taste. [continues 1379 words]
Semi-legal Dope Smokes Out Travellers AMSTERDAM -- It takes about a five-minute walk after arriving at Central Station to realize you've landed on Fantasy Island. Working girls beckon from bay windows, shops boast an eye-opening amount of pornography and the tangy smell of marijuana wafts out every time a coffee shop door is opened. It's one small part of one city, but Amsterdam has become a flashpoint for the marijuana debate. It is a city where people can wander into cafes and buy small amounts of cannabis without fear of arrest. Some say this country has the most effective drug policy in the world. [continues 798 words]
AMSTERDAM -- It takes about a five-minute walk after arriving at Central Station to realize you've just landed on Fantasy Island. With working girls shaking their thing and beckoning for business in bay windows, shopping that has an eye-opening amount of pornography and the tangy smell of marijuana wafting out every time a coffee-shop door is opened, the anything-goes fantasy is not exactly for everyone. Touring the red light district, the lovely canals that run through it and the historic architecture is akin to studying the brain of an aging rock star who was blessed with a prodigious sense of taste. [continues 1324 words]
The first mistake the unrefined marijuana sampler invariably makes is thinking the stronger the cannabis, the better. "Everyone comes in here thinking that strong is good and that is absolutely wrong," says a pot tour guide who goes by the name Berry and plies his trade at the Cannabis College in the heart of Amsterdam. German tourist Mich Knect, 23, listens to his instruction carefully. He is told to look for resinous plants with profuse white, crystallized flowering heads. Berry explains that chemicals are added to hydroponic marijuana during cultivation to cull a more potent pot when smoked. [continues 265 words]
AMSTERDAM -- The first mistake the unrefined marijuana sampler invariably makes is thinking the stronger the cannabis, the better. "Everyone comes in here thinking that strong is good and that is absolutely wrong," said a pot tour guide who goes by the name Berry and plies his trade at the Cannabis College in the heart of Amsterdam. German tourist Mich Knect, 23, listens to his instruction carefully. He is told to look for resinous plants with profuse white, crystallized flowering heads. Berry explains that chemicals are added to hydroponic marijuana during cultivation to cull a more potent pop when smoked. [continues 251 words]
A Policy Of Tolerance In The Netherlands Has Created An Indifferent View Of Marijuana And One Of The Lowest Pot-Smoking Rates In The Industrialized World. AMSTERDAM -- It takes about a five-minute walk after arriving at Central Station to realize you've just landed on Fantasy Island. With working girls beckoning for business in bay windows and the tangy smell of marijuana wafting out every time a coffee shop door is opened, the anything-goes fantasy is not exactly for everyone. [continues 1098 words]
The first mistake the unrefined marijuana sampler invariably makes is thinking the stronger the cannabis, the better. "Everyone comes in here thinking that strong is good and that is absolutely wrong," said a pot tour guide who goes by the name Berry and plies his trade at the Cannabis College in the heart of Amsterdam. German tourist Mich Knect, 23, listens to his instruction carefully. He is told to look for resinous plants with profuse white, crystallized flowering heads. Berry explains chemicals are added to hydroponic marijuana during cultivation to cull a more potent pop when smoked. [continues 355 words]
AMSTERDAM -- It takes about a five-minute walk after arriving at Central Station to realize you've just landed on Fantasy Island. With working girls shaking their things and beckoning for business in bay windows, shopping that has an eye-opening amount of pornography and the tangy smell of marijuana wafting out every time a coffee-shop door is opened, the anything-goes fantasy is not for everyone. Touring the Red Light District, the lovely canals that run through it and the historic architecture, is akin to studying the brain of an aging rock star who was blessed with a prodigious sense of taste. [continues 1350 words]
The first mistake the untutored marijuana sampler makes is thinking the stronger the cannabis, the better. "Everyone comes in here thinking that strong is good and that is absolutely wrong," said a pot tour guide named Berry who plies his trade at the Cannabis College in the heart of Amsterdam. German tourist Mich Knect, 23, listens to instructions carefully. Berry explains chemicals are added to hydroponic marijuana to produce a more potent pop. "This is not good," Berry said. "You have to think of it like buying a good bottle of wine. If chemicals were added, the connoisseur would spit it out. Chemical-free is the proper way, although no one seems to care anymore." [continues 103 words]
THE HAGUE - A large majority of the Second Chamber supports the plea of the Maastricht Court president Lampe for legalisation of soft drugs. Only CDA (Christian democrats - hb) wants to keep marijuana and hash under criminal law to prevent the Netherlands from being flooded by drug tourists. Only CDA wants to keep hash under criminal law. CDA advocates strict adherence to current tolerance policy. "We must tune our drug policy with neighbouring countries. Otherwise we only import more drugs misery", CDA mp Van Haersma Buma says. VVD (liberal conservatives - hb) mp Griffith states that the opinions of Judge Lampe are in full agreement with the opinions of her party. "Drugs are a part of our society, you have to live with that." [continues 274 words]
Two years ago a few of us realised that it would be good to have a MAP-like service covering the Dutch press, so we started several mailing lists and a web page - all hosted by DrugSense - and several newshawks have provided a steady stream of articles since then (thanks, Peter and Job of MDGH!). Fortunately, the Dutch press landscape is not that large (which at the same time gives me an idea about the amount of work done by Mappers in the US). Although the current number of subscribers of MAP-NL is limited (around one hundred) they are from most of the relevant Dutch institutions (a.o. ministerial departments). MAP-NL clippings are incorporated in newsletters by several of these. [continues 184 words]
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Just what the doctor ordered? Pharmacies may fill prescriptions for marijuana and patients can get the cost covered by insurance, according to a law that went into effect Monday. Doctors in the famously liberal Netherlands have long recommended marijuana to cancer patients as an appetite enhancer and to combat pain and nausea. But it is usually bought at one of the country's 800 ``coffee shops,'' where the plant is sold openly while police look the other way. The Dutch government will license several official growers later this year. In the meantime, pharmacies will have to decide for themselves where to get the marijuana. Many pharmacies use marijuana distributed by Maripharm, a company that advertises its product as "standardized, vacuum-packed and bearing patient information and dose advice.'' [end]
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- Just what the doctor ordered? Pharmacies may fill prescriptions for marijuana and patients can get the cost covered by insurance, according to a law that went into effect yesterday. Doctors in the famously liberal Netherlands have long recommended marijuana to cancer patients as an appetite enhancer and to combat pain and nausea. But it is usually bought at one of the country's 800 "coffee shops," where the plant is sold openly while police look the other way. The law also seeks to standardize levels of THC, the psychoactive chemical found in marijuana. The percentage of THC in Dutch marijuana has increased sharply in the past several years. [continues 67 words]
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Just what the doctor ordered? Pharmacies may fill prescriptions for marijuana and patients can get the cost covered by insurance, according to a law that went into effect Monday. Doctors in the famously liberal Netherlands have long recommended marijuana to cancer patients as an appetite enhancer and to combat pain and nausea. But it is usually bought at one of the country's 800 "coffee shops," where the plant is sold openly while police look the other way. "The health minister said, look, doctors are prescribing marijuana to their patients anyway, and there are many medicinal users, so we may as well regulate it," said Bas Kuik, a spokesman for the Dutch Ministry of Health. [continues 268 words]
Inside Netherlands
