So I was planning a trip to the Netherlands late summer 2009. Not really wanting to hit it at like the cannabis cup but if it happens it happens. So I was looking at airline tickets and shit and doing some light research. So first off I thought I would hit up a wiki on Netherland Marijuana Laws. I had read somewhere here about reforms taking place late 2008. This is directly from the Wikipedia site: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy_of_the_Netherlands ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Recent developments In 2005, Gerd Leers, mayor of the border city of Maastricht, criticised the current policy as inconsistent, by recording a song with the Dutch punk rock band De Heideroosjes. By allowing possession and retail sales of cannabis, but not cultivation or wholesale, the government creates numerous problems of crime and public safety, he alleges, and therefore he would like to switch to either legalising and regulating production, or to the full repression that his party (CDA) officially advocates. The latter suggestion has widely been interpreted as rhetorical.[3] Leers's comments have garnered support from other local authorities and put the cultivation issue back on the agenda. By 2009, 27 coffee shops selling cannabis in Rotterdam, all within 200 meters from schools, must close down. This is nearly half of the coffee shops that currently operate within its municipality. This is due to a new policy of city mayor Ivo Opstelten and the town council.[22] The higher levels of the active ingredient in cannabis in Netherlands create a growing opposition against the traditional Dutch view of cannabis as a relatively innocent soft drug,[23]. Supporters of coffee shops state that such claims are often exaggerated and ignore the fact that higher thc content means a user needs to use less of the plant to get desired effects....making it in fact safer.[24] Dutch research has however shown that an increase of THC content also increase the occurrence of impaired psychomotor skills, particularly among younger or inexperienced cannabis smokers, who do not adapt their smoking-style to the higher THC content.[25] Closing of coffeeshops is not unique for Rotterdam. Many other towns have done the same in the last 10 years. The municipality of Utrecht imposed in 2008 a Zero Tolerance Policy to all events like the big dance party Trance Energy held in Jaarbeurs. However, such zero-tolerance policy at dance parties are now becoming common in the Netherlands and are even stricter in cities like Arnhem. The two towns Roosendaal and Bergen op Zoom have in October 2008 announced that they start closing all coffee shops, each week visited by up to 25000 French and Belgian drug tourists, closures beginning in February 2009.[26] [edit] Bill banning "Magic mushrooms" On April 25, 2008, the Dutch government, backed by a majority of members of parliament, decided to ban cultivation and use of all hallucinogenic or "magic mushrooms". Amsterdam mayor Job Cohen proposed a three day cooling period in which clients would be informed three days before actually procuring the mushrooms and if they would still like to go through with it they could pick up their spores from the smart shop.[27][28] The ban is referred as a new retreat from liberal drug policies.[29] This followed a few (deadly) incidents in which people (though mostly tourists) were involved[citation needed]. These deaths were not directly caused by the use of the drug per se, but by deadly accidents occurring while under the influence of magic mushrooms and other drugs like alcohol. As of 1 December 2008, the magic mushrooms are banned. [30] ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ My first reaction is that it isn't even worth the trip anymore. I don't know if there are any locals here that can chime in with some personal experience but this bums me out. I always wanted to go to Amsterdam since I first saw Pulp Fiction at 13, but it seems that sort of late 80's early 90's kind of vibe has just been exploited one of two ways. Tourism. Once again American's exploiting a gift until it is taken away. Which makes me sad. On one hand I hate that the dutch people can't have open access to there medicine and on the other hand I hate the fact that if I ever did want to move there (which I do) then I myself might be viewed as a contribution to the problem. When all I want to do is move anyplace on the planet with a smallish population and the ability to grow and smoke pot without fear of getting put in jail. What is the world coming to. Its like we are a virus slowly infecting every corner of the planet. The McAmericanization Virus. What ever system provides the most profits with the fewest casualties. Tame the flock. "Give them weed, if crime goes up and the cost outweight the gain, Sack it. If the pro's outweigh the cons, keep it." It's like all that is taken into consideration is profits, and not the people actually affected in a positive way from marijuana as a medicine. And that afterall is who the goverment is suppose to represent, the people. So why do we keep allowing this to happen all over the world? Why do we allow this virus to spread? Why is Babylon triumphing? If this is worth fighting for we, need to stay sober enough to fight the evils that threaton our human rights. Rise the fuck up people. Grasscity is one of the biggest forums on the internet. There is obviously something one sided when the majority of the country is affected by positives and only a few are affected by the negetives. If they really gave a fuck then every Cigarette manufacturer would have there factories burned to the ground. We are responsible for a better tomorrow. Cheers.
I'll be there June 25th to July 6th. Worry you not. Amsterdam is not dead, just changing. I have nothing against them making shrooms illegal, it makes sense. You can still get philosopher stones legally and shrooms, x, coke, MDMA, and all other sorts from the "pssstttttt" guys on the corner. As for coffeeshops, many are closing that are close to schools but for the most part, the shops that are closing are not that important. The gems are still going to be there such as Mellow Yellow, Stix, 420, Gray Area, Basjoes, Dampkring, and Pink Floyd. Also they have implemented a tobacco ban in shops, that doesnt mean you can't enjoy some tobacco spliffers in the shops, many have seperate "Smoke Rooms" which allow you to smoke cig's or your weed with tobacco. Haven't been there since 2006 but it was fine then and it will be fine for some time to come.
dont forget if you havent mentioned already, last year a gram cost us 7quid i.e. in british money of anything, the price because the pound has fallen as near doubled bringing us to around 15 quid a gram, no it's not worth it, it's cheaper to get weed in the uk, and that fact SUCKS ass, because amsterdam is awesum
I can vouch for Grey Area and Dampkring. Hit them up on the trip. But the whole shrooms thing is uncalled for. A thing like shrooms is better regulated than illegally dealt with when the buyer is not aware of the consequences of getting a bad batch. I'm not implying anything about dealers in Amsterdam, I hear they're mad cool. But still, I think shrooms are better when legalized.