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Amsterdam Smoking Cannabis But Not Tobacco

by amayco

The new law enforces a smoking tobacco ban in public spaces such
as restaurants, bars, and, yes, coffee shops: Those who smoke the
reefer may continue to do so on licensed premises - providing
they've not got cigarette in their marijuana.

The latest ban has spurred fresh claims Amsterdam's cannabis
cafe culture is under threat.  It follows on from April 2007
legislation forcing coffee shops to choose between serving
alcohol or cannabis.  While most coffee shops prefer to serve
cannabis, the restriction has helped curb the presence of the
cannabis coffee shop in the Netherlands.

In the Netherlands, the consumption and possession of cannabis
is illegal but not punishable.  And licensed coffee shops can
sell up to five grams of marijuana to punters aged over 18 years.
 Half the Netherlands' cannabis-peddling coffee shops are
concentrated in the capital.

Each municipality has its own coffee shop policy, but mostly
licences are non-transferable with the number of licenses frozen.
 Certainly the municipality of Terneuzen is alone in obliging
coffee shop patrons with road signs.

Still others are trying to work out how many inspectors it takes
to monitor the makeup of joints up-and-down the capital and
beyond.  The authority responsible for enforcing the ban claims
to have 200 inspectors checking compliance on the ground.  Each
inspector, they say, is trained in identifying impure states of
imbibing from fifty paces, by smell and sight.

But the problem with the notion of rigorous control doesn't end
with quality control and the ability to spot a tobacco-rolled
joint.  To say coffee shops aren't above the law would be
something of a fib: By government policy they're tolerated, not
legal.  The various restrictions seem contrived to make the
continued existence of coffee shops more difficult, while the
government seems unable to issue a total ban.

It has been said the Netherlands is happy enough with its drug
policy but is leant on by foreign governments.  In fact the Dutch
distinction between soft and hard drugs in law seems to produce
relatively good results in terms of public health.

Rates of drug use in the Netherlands are similar to the European
average, but drug related deaths tend to be fewer and addicts
tend to be older.  Rates of drug use across all categories but
notably of cannabis use among school students in North America
are significantly higher than rates of use in the Netherlands. 
Across all drug and violence indicators North America outperforms
the Netherlands, being much more stoned and far more violent.

For the coffee shops of Amsterdam, times may be harder.  But
it's not over until the fat man stops rolling.

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