Bye bye mushed-up British stag nights in A'dam

griffdaddy · 12-10-2007 04:33PM #1

http://www.nisnews.nl/public/111007_1.htm

'THE HAGUE, 11/10/07 - Health Minister Ab Klink is to ban the sale of hallucinogenic mushrooms. Relaible sources say he will make a decision this week.

Currently, only dried mushrooms are banned in the Netherlands. In fresh form, which has the same effect, they are for sale normally. With a general ban, Klink is acceding to the wishes of a Lower House majority.....'
Seems even the Netherlands is deciding to ban shrooms now. Personally I have mixed views on it, i live in the Dam and for every idiot Brit i see vomiting and screaming at trams i see 4 or 5 people just having a good time on them. The end of that article says the Amsterdam mayor wanted to make people think about it for 3 days before they did them instead of an outright ban, seems like a better option to me, also eliminates weekender tourists taking them to a certain extent. Do people think if we had a system of say waiting and educating for 3 days before trying cannabis or drinking for the first time it would change our society's apparent inherent abusive nature?

ScumLord · 12-10-2007 04:41PM

I don't get that think about it for 3 days craic..

I'd say most people that go to Amsterdam to try the drugs have been thinking about it for a long time weather or not they do any research is another thing. Alcohol is to blame for the pukers. You'll try anything when drunk when the two drugs mix you end up getting sick especially if you mix drink and smoke.

Looks like the dam is looking to drop the sin city rep. They're cutting down on the amount of windows in the red light district aswell and soon the smoking ban will come into affect. Although technically Cannabis is herbal and I don't think it would fall under the smoking ban in Ireland (if it wasn't illegal anyway).

indough · 12-10-2007 04:41PM

I was just wondering how you drew a link between that article and the British. The only nationality mentioned in there that I could make out was the French.

humanji · 12-10-2007 04:43PM

How does he expect to make people wait 3 days before taking them? It seems like a really badly thought out idea tbh. And it's all pipe dreaming to think that drugs will be legalised if education was provided before use, or to even have them legalised at all. It's socially ingrained that drugs are bad (Mmkay?), and it's hard for governments to get their heads around how to tax them, so it's just not going to happen.

Mr. Presentable · 12-10-2007 04:44PM

ScumLord wrote: »

Although technically Cannabis is herbal and I don't think it would fall under the smoking ban in Ireland (if it wasn't illegal anyway).

Maybe I'm an ignorant square, but isn't cannabis mixed with tobacco for smoking purposes?

griffdaddy · 12-10-2007 04:49PM

indough wrote: »

I was just wondering how you drew a link between that article and the British. The only nationality mentioned in there that I could make out was the French.

Although the only evidence i can offer is pretty much anecdotal, if you go to Dam Square or Leidseplein on a friday or saturday night you'll see what i mean, it's like Templebar x10 with loads of drugs thrown into the mix. I'm not even remotely anti-British, that's just the way it is, any other Amsterdammer, native Dutch or not would probably tell you the same thing.

keen · 12-10-2007 04:52PM

nipplenuts wrote: »

Maybe I'm an ignorant square, but isn't cannabis mixed with tobacco for smoking purposes?

You can mix it with tobacco but it's a bit like watering down your beer.

griffdaddy · 12-10-2007 04:55PM

maybe you'd only be allowed smoke pure weed coners or something, fine by me:p

indough · 12-10-2007 04:56PM

humanji wrote: »

It's socially ingrained that drugs are bad (Mmkay?), and it's hard for governments to get their heads around how to tax them, so it's just not going to happen.

Why would it be hard for governments to tax them? Wouldn't they be just as easily taxable as anything else?

ScumLord · 12-10-2007 04:58PM

It doesn't have to be. It's common in Europe to mix edit with tobacco so it's a smooter smoke. In the US they smoke it pure. In bongs you smoke it pure. So it's not absolutely nessesary to have tobacco in the spliff.

BaZmO* · 12-10-2007 04:58PM

nipplenuts wrote: »

Maybe I'm an ignorant square, but isn't cannabis mixed with tobacco for smoking purposes?

Hash needs to be mixed with tobacco to smoke it in a joint unless you use a pipe. And Cannabis/Grass can be smoked on it's own in a joint.

WindSock · 12-10-2007 05:01PM

Damnit. They look at banning shrooms, the only drug left that I like to take that doesn't effect my (physical) health. Ah well, at least they grow in my back garden

humanji · 12-10-2007 05:07PM

indough wrote: »

Why would it be hard for governments to tax them? Wouldn't they be just as easily taxable as anything else?

I said it'd be hard for governments to get their heads around how to tax them. Governments aren't too good at taking up new things. They're going to want to make as much money as possible and will generally see it as too big a thing. Also, they have to try and keep the votes of conservative voters who won't want drugs in Ireland at all. Politics ruins the quality of life of everyone!

12-10-2007 05:12PM

ScumLord wrote: »

Alcohol is to blame for the pukers.

Not necessarily true....the mushrooms themselves, if eaten in their natural state (a) taste revolting and b) are very hard to digest, especially if one gobbles them down to try to negate point (a).

Unless you cook/prepare them in some way, they sit, gurgling in your stomach and this produces a lot of stomach acid and gaseous elements. When one is trying to wrap their minds around the psychoactive side of things, an upset stomach is the last thing you need and the body's natural reaction is to vomit.

You are right in saying that excessive amounts of THC + Alcohol = puke-a-rama though.

Degsy · 12-10-2007 05:37PM

boreds wrote: »

Damnit. They look at banning shrooms, the only drug left that I like to take that doesn't effect my (physical) health. Ah well, at least they grow in my back garden

so where do ya live then?;)

WindSock · 12-10-2007 05:45PM

On a pile of poos.

indough · 12-10-2007 05:46PM

humanji wrote: »

I said it'd be hard for governments to get their heads around how to tax them. Governments aren't too good at taking up new things. They're going to want to make as much money as possible and will generally see it as too big a thing. Also, they have to try and keep the votes of conservative voters who won't want drugs in Ireland at all. Politics ruins the quality of life of everyone!

I still don't understand how tax figures into their illegality. I don't think that our government would have any problem getting their heads around taxing them. Why would it be any different than taxing alcohol or tobacco?

rossie1977 · 12-10-2007 05:50PM

amsterdam is really risking losing a sh*tload of tourists by reducing window girls, mushrooms and weed.

people will end up going to prague and budapest instead

projectmayhem · 12-10-2007 06:07PM

rossie1977 wrote: »

amsterdam is really risking losing a sh*tload of tourists by reducing window girls, mushrooms and weed.

people will end up going to prague and budapest instead

people forget that actually the government in holland, and the countries' population generally, aren't that left wing. it's really only amsterdam that's so left wing.

so a move like this isn't overly surprising, even if the move is to quell vomiting on trams and what not.

admiralofthefleet · 12-10-2007 06:20PM

as long as they dont ban the dirty lady's ill be fine

biko · 12-10-2007 06:26PM

Mushrooms? Heroin is the stags friend. The more the merrier.

Wertz · 12-10-2007 06:48PM

F*ck the mushies, it's the smoking ban imposed by the EU that's going to pose the real threat...

griffdaddy · 12-10-2007 06:54PM

to be honest i don't see the smoking ban affecting coffeeshops here. Cannabis is still illegal here, I saw a guy getting really intensely questioned before for having about half an ounce. what's going in coffeeshops at the moment is technically illegal, but they don't mind ignoring that law for the sake of not being pedantic, i can imagine they'll do a similar thing with the smoking ban.

Tha Gopher · 12-10-2007 07:04PM

projectmayhem wrote: »

people forget that actually the government in holland, and the countries' population generally, aren't that left wing. it's really only amsterdam that's so left wing.

so a move like this isn't overly surprising, even if the move is to quell vomiting on trams and what not.

Indeed. It seems to vary by region or maybe class but, while like anywhere most smoke in their youth, one Dutch lad i know said that, in his area or social group at least, anyone still smoking in their mid to late 20s is viewed as immature and going nowhere. However another guy said its quite common for people to go down and get monged in the local place after work on a Friday, so it maybe differs by area.

They like their beer anyway.

leninbenjamin · 12-10-2007 07:14PM

Griffdaddy, are you true about it being outright illegal? had a few mad debates and discussions with some dutchies over the summer, they said it was only illegal to be carrying more than 6 grams.

rossie1977 · 12-10-2007 07:17PM

Tha Gopher wrote: »

Indeed. It seems to vary by region or maybe class but, while like anywhere most smoke in their youth, one Dutch lad i know said that, in his area or social group at least, anyone still smoking in their mid to late 20s is viewed as immature and going nowhere. However another guy said its quite common for people to go down and get monged in the local place after work on a Friday, so it maybe differs by area.

They like their beer anyway.

beer in the red light district costs an arm and a leg :mad:

Wertz · 12-10-2007 07:19PM

In fairness we all imagined the same thing when they talked about it coming into pubs here...

"Sure no-one will pay any heed and we'll all just carry on as we were, what are they gonna do; get the guards?"

Imagine if/when the ban gets to Holland and all the pubs being policed but not the coffeeshops...there'd be a kick up IMO.
You could argue that since the very reason a coffeeshop is there is to smoke on it's premises that it could somehow be overlooked, but let's not forget that the smoking ban is solely about worker's rights, not the apparent rights of the customer nor the proprietor.

It'd be a wee bit ironic if the death knell of a popular decriminalised drug was sounded by a partial ban on an already legal drug, eh?

Rosie1977 wrote:

beer in the red light district costs an arm and a leg

Aye, thank god the women are cheap...

SimpleSam06 · 12-10-2007 07:25PM

rossie1977 wrote: »

amsterdam is really risking losing a sh*tload of tourists by reducing window girls, mushrooms and weed.

Yes, I'm sure all the nice people looking for hookers and drugs will be sorely missed.

Tha Gopher · 12-10-2007 07:30PM

Of course they will Sam, why do you think its even legal? Take away the lads spending their money on accomadation while drinking/smoking/riding the city to pieces and you are left with some elderly Americans on a continent tour. You know what yanks are like with money, the place would collapse.

Of course they could do what they did to make Dublin unfirendly to the travelling barmy armies on stag dos- increase drink prices and employ ever more wankery door policies.

griffdaddy · 12-10-2007 07:35PM

leninbenjamin wrote: »

Griffdaddy, are you true about it being outright illegal? had a few mad debates and discussions with some dutchies over the summer, they said it was only illegal to be carrying more than 6 grams.

http://www.coffeeshop.freeuk.com/General/FAQ.html
That's the quickest link i could find. It definitely is though, and if you were unlucky enough to encounter a real wánker cop you could get done for smoking it in the street as well.

rossie1977 · 12-10-2007 07:38PM

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

Yes, I'm sure all the nice people looking for hookers and drugs will be sorely missed.

you would actually be surprised the calibre of people who goes out to amsterdam looking for hookers and to smoke weed

like nobody in hollywood does drugs

Hitler didn't smoke, drink, do drugs or eat meat and he sure was a nice man :rolleyes:

Tha Gopher wrote:

left with some elderly Americans on a continent tour. You know what yanks are like with money, the place would collapse

lol, elderly americans make up a large % of business in the RLD

Bye bye mushed-up British stag nights in A'dam

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