Dutch to ban foreigners from cannabis coffee shops

[zot]

Holland is to bar foreigners from its infamous cannabis-selling coffee shops.

Anti-drugs laws will see restrictions placed on who can use the shops, which allow patrons to buy and smoke drugs legally.

The rules, called ‘tourism suicide’ by some, could put an end to many of the tens of thousands of visits made by Britons to Amsterdam every year.

Under legislation spearheaded by far-right politicians, only Dutch residents will be able to enter the cannabis-selling premises.

Story continued on:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...fee-shops.html

We can only wonder what's next for the city of Amsterdam -- the world's biggest Usenet hub. Perhaps shutting down the Red Light district?

[mjmacky]

So is this the fault of the voters, who're putting these idiots in office? It sounds like they are trying to kill those businesses. Not only wouldn't they be allowed to allow foreign customers, but you have to sign up an annual member of the coffee shop, and it's limited to 1,500 per year?! That's less than 5 unique customers a day. There's also the issue of establishing your citizenship, which means you may only go through the hassle of visiting one or two at the most because you don't have all your Dutch documents together in another part of town. Something sounds very fishy about that. Well, if the citizens allow this to happen, enjoy your new crime rate...

[Disme]

Would they make an exception for Dutch-speaking neighboors???

[mjmacky]

Would they make an exception for Dutch-speaking neighboors???

Well, they hate the British apparently, maybe they also hate Belgians. It's the brainchild of the anti-immigration party, are Dutch racists just selectively xenophobic?

[megabyteme]

I am not so much "pro-pot" or "pro-prostitution", but I am all for individual freedoms. It looks to me like the government there is taking a turn against individual freedoms. I hope people rise up and fight for what they have.

[mjmacky]

I read up on this story in a Dutch forum, and heard a lot of support for this. The sentiment I took away is they don't want people visiting their country if they are coming for the pot. Apparently they've already done this in border towns to the South, and they have dope dealers hanging out at the gates of high schools. I wish I remembered the name of the site, I want to link it here. You can get a sense of the closet-racism (or nationalism) they embody. Apparently, only Dutch pot smokers are decent people, British/Belgian/French pot smokers are a bad element and don't know how to enjoy the many wonders of Holland... oh fucking lord I was cracking up writing that.

windmill windmill something something something

[clocker]

I used to enjoy Amsterdam when tulip shopping but fuck 'em.
Medical pot in CO is as good as anything I ever had in Holland and I'm not forced to buy flowers
along with.

[OlegL]

Damn, that sucks. Weed is good, so foreigners should be allowed to smoke weed in Dutch coffee shops.

[mjmacky]

Dammit Oleg you always come in really late to post the most mundane reply. Are you just a thread bumper when you're not trolling?

[OlegL]

What did you want me to say? If I ever came to Holland, of course, I would prefer if they allowed me to smoke weed in their shops and that's because weed is just that good. Do you find this response less dull? Americans should legalize weed. Do you find this response less dull? Even though the Beat writer Burroughs rarely talked about weed in his novel "Junkie", it's interesting that when he was high on weed, he lost his sense of direction while driving a car. Does this response seem less dull to you? We should thank the hippie movement for making weed more popular. Do you still find the response dull? Just let me be myself, buddy...