Will you still go to Amsterdam?

ShoulderChip

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article3808003.ece

Holland is introducing a smoking ban on July 1st, and yes this will include coffeshops,
so people will not be able to smoke traditional joints in amsterdam's coffe shops anymore.
It will still be perfectly Ok to smoke pure marijuana.

I think this is a great thing as tourists will now be forced to enjoy all the healthy benefits of marijuana without the negative effects of tobaco.

Rb

Weed isn't cheap. Rolling pure weed joints will certainly cost a pretty penny.

They're fúcking themselves over tbh, so many smokers go there to relax and enjoy their lax laws, bringing in a smoking ban (particularly to cafes) is, I would imagine, going to cost them a huge chunk of revenue gained from tourism.

Davidius

I'd never once considered going to Amsterdam.

Borneo Fnctn

Rb wrote: »

Weed isn't cheap. Rolling pure weed joints will certainly cost a pretty penny.

They're fúcking themselves over tbh, so many smokers go there to relax and enjoy their lax laws, bringing in a smoking ban (particularly to cafes) is, I would imagine, going to cost them a huge chunk of revenue gained from tourism.

From my experience with smoking dope, I think you can smoke it pure in a bong.

ShoulderChip

ah in fairness now it is pretty cheap over there, and especially when you compare it to how we spend similar time here (alcoholicpops)

It will be more bongs and pipes, id say than pure joints.

1stimpressions

did i not read bout excemption for coffee shops somewhere?

ShoulderChip

jackpalance wrote: »

From my experience with smoking dope, I think you can smoke it pure in a bong.

yes,
its very rare to find a non-pure bong,
im not sure if you're being sarcastic or naieve.

ShoulderChip

1stimpressions wrote: »

did i not read bout excemption for coffee shops somewhere?

i have no idea, you probably did, if you did it was bullshit, don't understand why you commented that line,
too lazy to read the article i guess.

kmart6

God you scared me there....thought there was going to be a ban on hookers!!:D

theneurotic

it sucks that they can't exempt the coffeeshops from the law. any of the staff that we talked to loved working in them, duh dutch govt, they wouldn't work there if they had a problem with a smokey environment. there's very little point in goin to the dam if smokings not allowed but i'm sure the law won't be strictly enforced, seeing as cannabis is technically illegal there yet its sale and usage is overlooked. wonder what howard marks has to say

ScumLord

It's a tobacco ban, cannabis smoking is still ok. I was in Amsterdam not so long ago and a local told me that.

ShoulderChip

theneurotic wrote: »

it sucks that they can't exempt the coffeeshops from the law. any of the staff that we talked to loved working in them, duh dutch govt, they wouldn't work there if they had a problem with a smokey environment. there's very little point in goin to the dam if smokings not allowed but i'm sure the law won't be strictly enforced, seeing as cannabis is technically illegal there yet its sale and usage is overlooked. wonder what howard marks has to say

ScumLord wrote: »

It's a tobacco ban, cannabis smoking is still ok. I was in Amsterdam not so long ago and a local told me that.

bloody hell i said this in the opening post.
it also says this in the article i linked too, why would you just post on a thread without reading it?

Borneo Fnctn

ShoulderChip wrote: »

im not sure if you're being sarcastic or naieve.

Naive I suppose. My experience is limited. I'm not trying to take the pi*s

fredzer

when holland goes smoke free from july 1st all establishments will have the right to a designated somking area, the 'cafe's' as far as I know will be the exception to this as the whole cafe will be a designated smoking area! punters will have to go to a non smoking area within the cafe to be served beer coffee etc.

http://goamsterdam.about.com/b/2008/06/10/netherlands-goes-smoke-free-july-1.htm

BraziliaNZ

Davidius wrote: »

I'd never once considered going to Amsterdam.

That's a really f*cking insightful comment mate...
Anyway I've never been to A'dam unfortunately, and would love to go someday to smoke pot till the cows come home, so I hope it doesn't affect the cafes. Do these laws mean purely tobacco or any kind of smoking? I don't have a problem with pure joints by the way

ShoulderChip

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

That's a really f*cking insightful comment mate...
Anyway I've never been to A'dam unfortunately, and would love to go someday to smoke pot till the cows come home, so I hope it doesn't affect the cafes. Do these laws mean purely tobacco or any kind of smoking? I don't have a problem with pure joints by the way

see post #12

Rb

On further thought, I'd love to see them trying to differentiate between a full weed joint and one with a mix in a cafe full of people smoking the stuff.

kmart6

Rb wrote: »

On further thought, I'd love to see them trying to differentiate between a full weed joint and one with a mix in a cafe full of people smoking the stuff.

There'll be lil chemical testers going around in lab coats to all the cafes!

Rb

kmart6 wrote: »

There'll be lil chemical testers going around in lab coats to all the cafes!

"I'm from the Government, I just have to have a few tokes on that joint of yours to make sure it's tobacco free...ohh yeaahhh"

phantom_lord

vaporizers ftw

Spastafarian

ShoulderChip wrote: »

I think this is a great thing as tourists will now be forced to enjoy all the healthy benefits of marijuana without the negative effects of tobaco.

Actually smoking pure marijuana is much worse for you than smoking a mix of tobacco and marijuana. With the exception of herbal cigarettes, tobacco is about the safest thing you can smoke.

ShoulderChip

Spastafarian wrote: »

Actually smoking pure marijuana is much worse for you than smoking a mix of tobacco and marijuana. With the exception of herbal cigarettes, tobacco is about the safest thing you can smoke.

what are you basing this on dude?
all the studies i have read, have indicated quiet the opposite.

Rb

ShoulderChip wrote: »

what are you basing this on dude?
all the studies i have read, have indicated quiet the opposite.

Indeed and likewise.

ShoulderChip

Rb wrote: »

Indeed and likewise.

yes well it is very hard for me to prove,
and indeed i don't have proof handy
http://www.ukcia.org/culture/smoking.php
that page is an example of the wisdom i agree with which is basically

You don't need to mix cannabis with tobacco to smoke it and it's far better if you don't. Apart from the well known health risks of tobacco such as lung cancer, it's a nasty addictive drug as well. There are many people who started smoking cannabis when young, decided they didn't like getting stoned and stopped, but were left with a tobacco addiction as a result.

Smoking Cannabis without tobacco also means you breath in far less smoke, so any potential for harm is greatly reduced. The last time UKCIA asked the government about this we simply got the reply "there is no safe way to use cannabis", but then,when have the government ever told the truth about the herb?

I am sure you will find lots of contradictory evidence sponsored by governments and charities etc,

I would be very interested if you could find a solid reason why it is more harmful as I do not believe this to be the case

Davidius

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

That's a really f*cking insightful comment mate...

You thought that comment was insightful?

How insightful.

Tragamin2k2

They did say theyre not using it as an excuse to close coffeeshops... and i also read that most coffeeshops are building outdoor smoking areas, and btw im going there sunday

phantom_lord

Spastafarian wrote: »

Actually smoking pure marijuana is much worse for you than smoking a mix of tobacco and marijuana. With the exception of herbal cigarettes, tobacco is about the safest thing you can smoke.

lol

DublinWriter

BraziliaNZ wrote: »

I don't have a problem with pure joints by the way

Maybe you don't but the streets will be littered with the unconscious bodies of sleeping tourists! The main reason most coffee-shops don't put space-cake out on open display is to discourage weed-tourists with no experience of eating them. If they are forced to make their house-joints out of pure weed then I shudder to think about the consequences.

Agent Smith

Drugs are bad kids!

Mossy Monk

I am going in 2 weeks. Not too bothered really as smoking was the last thing on my mind.

Heisenberg.

This post has been deleted.

SheroN

I bet they'll turn a blind eye to it in coffee shops.

Steve_o

SheroN wrote: »

I bet they'll turn a blind eye to it in coffee shops.

Perhaps, i'd say they just add smoking areas out the back of coffee shops anyway, so it'll be the same as it always was, just out the back!!

Irishcrx

I'm just back from Amsterdam and it is a wonderfull city, the smoking ban will only barely effect the coffee shops, you can smoke in them they are just not allowed serve you at the table anymore you have to go get the staff at the counter in the no smoking area and the main parts will be smoking area's , they knew dam well how bad the ban could effect them. The pubs will be the same as here no smoking...but as for joints in coffee shops it'll be business as usual.

Beruthiel

Lots of coffee shops have terraces...
Pas panic.

Zzippy

ShoulderChip wrote: »

bloody hell i said this in the opening post.
it also says this in the article i linked too, why would you just post on a thread without reading it?

ShoulderChip wrote: »

i have no idea, you probably did, if you did it was bullshit, don't understand why you commented that line,
too lazy to read the article i guess.

ShoulderChip wrote: »

see post #12

Whoa, chill out there man, maybe smoke some of that weed you're on about!

Appropriate username btw...

ScumLord

ShoulderChip wrote: »

bloody hell i said this in the opening post.
it also says this in the article i linked too, why would you just post on a thread without reading it?

I don't know, I guess it just makes me happy when the poster gets upset about little things like that.

I vaguely remember one of the coffeeshop dudes laughing that now the Locals (who dislike the coffeeshops) will have to come to a coffeeshop if they want to enjoy a cigarette with their morning coffee. So maybe coffeeshops are completely exempt.

I think another trip to Amsterdam is in order to find out the truth. Boards smoke up in Amsterdam?

stovelid

Is smoking the only reason a lot of people go to Amsterdam?

The Master

As long as I can still get a rusty trombone when I'm there I'll continue to visit Amsterdam

jester77

Mossy Monk wrote: »

I am going in 2 weeks. Not too bothered really as smoking was the last thing on my mind.

You dirty man

rubadub

Spastafarian wrote: »

Actually smoking pure marijuana is much worse for you than smoking a mix of tobacco and marijuana.

That is some strange logic you came up with. So if I have 0.2g of cannabis it is better for me to inhale the burning smoke of this combined with burning smoke of tobacco? Rather than just have the 0.2g on its own?

The usual crap trotted out is comparing unfiltered cannabis cigarettes with commercial filtered and treated cigarettes, and when doing so ignoring the massive difference in typical daily dosage. Faulty logic. Just like the other BS faulty logic saying cannabis is 20 times stronger than it was in the 60's, and so much worse for you. Ehhh users just would smoke 1/20th the amount (if it was true) and so would have around 1/20th the exposure of smoke to their lungs, so it is far better for you to smoke pure high grade cannabis. People do not drink 10pints of beer a night, then switch to whiskey and still down 10 pints! ludicrous arguments.

Of course they will turn a blind eye. FFS cannabis is not technically legal in holland as it is! they have turned a blind eye to smoking it in coffeeshops so I expect the same will be true of tobacco.

Sherifu

Wertz wrote: »

I'll eat the f*ckin' stuff if I have to...

Where there's a will

KnifeWRENCH

Plenty of stuff in Amsterdam other than drugs and hoors y'know.
What about the Van Gogh museum? The beautiful canals? All the clogs, windmills, tulips and other pleasant stereotypes? Well??

*awaits sarcastic responses*

Wertz

square_igloo wrote: »

Plenty of stuff in Amsterdam other than drugs and hoors y'know.
What about the Van Gogh museum? The beautiful canals? All the clogs, windmills, tulips and other pleasant stereotypes? Well??

*awaits sarcastic responses*

Seen 'em all, museums, galleries, breweries, Anne Frank's house...all the tourist-y stuff...it's the former two that keep you coming back. Nothing sarcastic about that...just the reality of it...

Toots

Rb wrote: »

"I'm from the Government, I just have to have a few tokes on that joint of yours to make sure it's tobacco free...ohh yeaahhh"

I think it's time I change career!!

Super Sidious

I remember being on a boat from Krabi to Koh Tao in Thailand last year (also known for its hookers and weed,although neither legal...) and some dutch guy telling us that any 'cafes' within a mile of a school would have to close.

Couldnt believe it, we thought he was winding us up, Amsterdam without weed & hookers... like coppers without the Guards or Nurses... just wont be the same!

Guy:Incognito

Oh the humanity of making people go outside to smoke their joints. Wont somebody please think of the children.

orestes

I was talking to a Dutch guy about this recently. He said that the cafes are all just being redesignated as members only cigar clubs because cigar clubs are exempt from the ban or something like that, but they are planning on just handing out membership cards to anyone on their way in. Not sure how true it is but sounds like a pretty clever idea

JC 2K3

Spastafarian wrote: »

Actually smoking pure marijuana is much worse for you than smoking a mix of tobacco and marijuana. With the exception of herbal cigarettes, tobacco is about the safest thing you can smoke.

LMAO.


I'm heading there in August. This doesn't really seem like a big deal.

Kold

Heading there on Wednesday. Happy happy Gonna see Radiohead there too wewt.

Nightwish

I LOVE Amsterdam, and I dont care whatsoever about the smoking ban. I have no interest in their cafe's so that doesnt bother me, but it'll make the bars smoke free then I'm all for it.