by Sodapop on May 28th, 2011

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Holland is planning on banning tourists from their cannabis shops... What do you think that's going to do for their country?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110527/wl_nm/us_dutch_cannabis

I find it rather odd that we're seeing such a rise in conservative government. They've also started buying out red light booths in the red light district, in an effort to convert the zone of the city into a more "appropriate and necessary" area. Now they want to cut all profits from foreign smokers entirely. They call it ridding their country of the criminality of selling pot to foreigners, and I have yet to find the logic in that thought.

Are they suffering from a power trip, or do they have a point? What is your opinion?

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by Bloed... on stand-by on June 1st, 2011

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You're not the only one who is trying to find logic in that thought. :)

Being Dutch myself, I think the plans are insane. There's quite a big discussion going on here right now. Many cities are against these ideas of the government, one of our provinces actually wants to start to grow weed themselves, even if the government is against it. One of the reasons they want to do this, is so they can control the quality of the weed, to make sure that it will be grown without chemicals and such. An other reason is to keep it from going even more underground.

The whole idea that it would stop criminality is utter bullsh!t. Which we know very well from experience. So the idea many people have, is that this is about a second agenda, namely the European Community. I am absolutely sure this is why our government is going into such an absurd direction. We had a great drug policy, but everything started to change with the coming of the EU. There's a lot of pressure there.
We are tolerating softdrugs for 40 years now and it has been proven very well that this reduces criminality instead of enhancing it. The plans they have now, will enhance criminality again. That is why so many big cities are against these plans.
Instead of having a controlled sale, and thus also controlled quality, now the sale will for a big part be pushed back underground.
One of the problems that this gives is that illegal dealers might not stick to selling marijuana and hashish. This is a big fear for a city like Amsterdam. Tourists will always buy softdrugs in our country, but now they will be pushed more into the hands of dealers who also sell other stuff.
Not only that, but the government will miss out of a lot of tax money.
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- Absolutely.. Great points and thank you! :)
  
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by Artful Bodger on June 1st, 2011
Typical politician-think. If it'd banned, legalise it. If it's legal, ban it. It would be of greater benefit to the Dutch if their politicians were to spend a little more thought on how they intend to deal with rising sea levels, rather than minor sideshows such as cannabis, or they will soon find themselves trying to govern a big slice of North Atlantic.
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- indeed... Thank you! :)
  
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by Halliburton Shill on May 28th, 2011
It's going to cause a big drop in tourism. It's not as if people visit Holland for its weather. Typical conservative big government action.
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- I am inclined to agree with you there. :/ Thanks
  
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by mikedsign on May 28th, 2011
The way you stated that it simply reads as discrimination against tourists.
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- Maybe... :/ Thanks..
  
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  by Sodapop on May 28th, 2011
- There is actually a case now in front of the European court, which is exactly about that. So we will see what comes from it....
  
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  by Bloed... on stand-by on June 1st, 2011
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by Baba on May 28th, 2011
whoa...they might go broke.
was in amsterdam, been there done that...a very longtime ago.
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- Maybe... Thanks :)
  
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by formichinoo on May 28th, 2011
Stayed in Amsterdam many times, never used the shops or pubs like the Bulldog, or wandered into a red light shop, the only thing that would put me off going is that Amsterdam is becoming as dirty as London. It is my favorite place for a weekend break, one reason is most Dutch folk speak better English then me!
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- Far nicer as well. The tram operator drew me a little route on my map to be sure I made it back safely to my hotel one night. Nice people! Thanks! :)
  
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by Possum on May 28th, 2011
I hate to see it happen but there is more more to Holland than pot houses and bothels.

If you think that those institution constitute a viable economic base you have a lot to learn about economic development, and the Dutch.
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- Perhaps.
  
  Thank you :)
  
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by Shunyata on May 28th, 2011
it's fine. too many tourists ( dumb kids mainly), come to holland not to enjoy the immense beauty, art, history but in order to get drugged. I be fine with it. it would clear out the "idiots".
amsterdam for instance is a wonderful place, but some american kids just go there for the drugs. NOT good.
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- Funny story. My cousin and I took a trip to Amsterdam through Contiki.. Since the company didn't officially work inside of the country of Holland they hired an independent tour agent to guide us through the city and show us around. He picked us up from the airport in a fleet of taxi cabs and took us to the hotel. When we were all settled we took the tram to a local restaurant we had ordered in advance from. We ate, and then he took us to a coffee shop to have a smoke. Others who didn't want to smoke were allowed to look at the canals and chat with each other. It was a part of his tour. We also went to a history museum for pornography (interesting to say the least) and a gay bar (heaven on earth) since he owned part of the business.
  
  The thing was that we went on our own ways and were able to include the important things. We went to Art Museums, The Anne Frank House and got to take a wonderful trip through the Heineken Brewery (my favorite beer). We did that by day, and by night we let loose and had a good time. There weren't any bar fights and you didn't see drug addicts strung out on the street or anything, like in Portugal where all drugs are legal.. but even if that's the center or their attention, I don't see their causing a problem by partaking in their habit. We smoked at a bar across the street from the hotel, while having some drinks. Some of the locals actually sat with us and we had a great time.
  
  I guess my point is that even with the idiots coming to the country for one reason its the real reason why college is free, healthcare is free and their infrastructure gets one of the highest ratings in Europe. It's going to be difficult to see some of the tax burden placed on the residents, but their sovereignty is their sovereignty so I can respect that. lol Thanks! :)
  
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  by Sodapop on May 28th, 2011
- it seems " part of your tour, and tour expactation was drugs, gaybars, whoring, porn"."
  I adore the netherlands. when I worked in europe I had my sail yacht in Holland, and I went there every weekend enjoying.
  There are thousands of aspects about the culture which are famulous and some you mentioned. Un fortunately, especially foreign tourism has attracted people " interested in porn, drugs, etc".
  The dutch obviously wish to "lessen that impact". they can live without it.
  Holland is worthy to be visited without the afforementioned immoral things.
  
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  by Shunyata on May 28th, 2011
- Morality is as subjective as subjective can be.
  
  We did not visit the sex shops, or go to any shows.. or purchase any services while we were there. These are museums we went to. There are hundreds in the city. And it was very fascinating looking at it. I didn't have an expectation as I didn't choose to go there. I went with a friend.
  
  lol.. I was only there for 2 days. In the 2 days I was there it looked like it was doing well enough with the red light district being where it was. Activity outside of the district is illegal in public so that's fair enough.
  
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  by Sodapop on May 28th, 2011
- The Red Light District is actually one of the safest places in Amsterdam. There's a huge social control network to keep it that way, as they can just not afford problems.
  
  Anyway, @ Shunyata, being Dutch myself I am rather proud of our country for the freedom we úsed to have. I don't want to live without the freedom of controlled prostitution and a controlled sale in soft drugs. (I also don't see what the problem is with gaybars, like you somewhat mention, but that's not the subject of this question so I won't go into that.)
  I am very unpleased (and quite worried) by seeing it going downhill. And with me, many others.
  We used to be famous for our tolerance. And that tolerance helped in fighting criminality. Now, we are going back in time, which is not a good thing.
  This freedom we used to have is also why many tourists want to see Amsterdam. Of course we have so much more than the red light district and coffeeshops, the sex museum and the marijuana museum, but it is fun for many tourists to see this once unique side of our country. Most tourists will also go to other famous attractions, we have great and famous art museums, a very interesting recent history (WW2, Anne Frank), flower fields, and so much more that people visit while they are here.
  Of course there are the young tourists who just want to get high and drunk, but this will not stop by changing our drug policy. In fact, I expect a hell of a lot more problems if these new laws will get through. And that is exactly why a city like Amsterdam is not that eager themselves about those new ideas.
  
  Oh, @ Sodapop, one thing I have to clear up, is that our college and healthcare are unfortunately far from free... You can still study if you are coming from a poor background but the loan you will have to take is so ridiculously high that it stops many young kids from going to college... and also our healthcare used to be much cheaper but nowadays it's a lot of money we are forced to pay... Many things have gone downhill here really bad.... sad, isn't it? :(
  
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  by Bloed... on stand-by on June 1st, 2011
- Recent developments, I agree are bad... The absence of taxable funds will do worse in the long run, for both aspects of your society. Sorry to hear. :(
  
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  by Sodapop on June 1st, 2011
- I always cherished everything about holland. I used to go there every weekend. I had my yacht in the maas platen... and I enjoyed the culture, food, friendliness.
  
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  by Shunyata on June 1st, 2011
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Holland is planning on banning tourists from their cannabis shops... What do you think that's going to do for their country?

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