Nicoracle Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Well I've been well ensconced,in every sense, in the Amsterdam scene, staying and working in a youth hostel there for 6 weeks so I know what it's like. I have also worked with a lot of Dutch people, most of whom were very disapproving of cannabis and particularly Amsterdam and they said most are like that. They think Amsterdam is not somewhere they would go to and it is mainly foreigners in the coffee shops and brothels. Even though it irks me to admit it, as they know it (!) I think they are a very intelligent race and much of their legislation is streets ahead of ours, but so are their personal attitudes on health. On my travels it has been the Brits and Americans smoking the most and the Brits drinking the most. What works for one nation doesn't necessarily work for another. Has 24 hours drinking curbed alcohol problems? No. Has the smoking ban cut down smoking? Yes. Having said that I do agree to some extent with decriminalisation in theory, but on the other hand when I have experienced what it can do to people how can I advocate it being made more easily available, particularly for adolescents who are most at risk and the least experienced in making an informed decision and doing things in moderation? Having lived and worked in the Dam for 3 + years I think I can safely say there is a damn site more to that city than foreigners, coffeshops and brothels.... i think you are referring to the 1 km square area called the red light district. Prostitution and Cannabis have been tolerated in Amsterdam for over 30 years now and statistically it is one of the safest cities in Europe.. they have less hard drug problems, less sexual attacks on women and lower rates of teenage pregnancy... whereas the states has a harder drugs policy and much bigger drug related problems in most of their cities. My main reason for advocating legalisation is so that quality could be controlled, the product could be taxed and good advice could be made more available to users. At the moment we have many examples of cannabis contaminated with amongst other things silicon... this offers a far greater threat than smoking natural weed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoracle Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 not sure if anyone else has said this already but a cafe couldn't work whether or not cannabis was legal since no one can smoke inside anymore. Smoking ban refers to tabacco and has been implemented in the Netherlands too; now you are only allowed to smoke pure joints in the coffeeshops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TESTPASS Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Anyone seen the documentary film The Union ? a really informative film. http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=The+Union+marijuana+film&spell=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saff Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Having lived and worked in the Dam for 3 + years I think I can safely say there is a damn site more to that city than foreigners, coffeshops and brothels.... i think you are referring to the 1 km square area called the red light district. There are coffee shops well out of the red light district or at least there were when I went. The coffee shops and brothels are a huge incentive for young travellers- to them that is what Amsterdam is about. Of course there is more to it, I did loads of other stuff too, but surely you concede that for many a tourist, often young males the main reason to go is to get absolutely wasted. It is also the reputation that Amsterdam has- that doesn't come from nowhere. Prostitution and Cannabis have been tolerated in Amsterdam for over 30 years now and statistically it is one of the safest cities in Europe.. they have less hard drug problems, less sexual attacks on women and lower rates of teenage pregnancy... whereas the states has a harder drugs policy and much bigger drug related problems in most of their cities. I agree cannabis does not cause aggression like alcohol does, my concern is not with the immediate effect but the shorter term demotivating aspect and longer term mental health risks to those with a predisposition. Having said that I encountered far more strange men following me around there than I have anywhere else. If you do go into the red light district there are people trying to sell you hard drugs everywhere, it's not a nice atmosphere. I expect you don't go there very often but that is the essence of the tolerance, if you see what I mean. My main reason for advocating legalisation is so that quality could be controlled, the product could be taxed and good advice could be made more available to users. At the moment we have many examples of cannabis contaminated with amongst other things silicon... this offers a far greater threat than smoking natural weed! Great in theory, is all the weed in Amsterdam pure then? Because I've known many people suffer from overdoing it there. Where would this advice come from? How could young people really be made aware of the risks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoracle Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Great in theory, is all the weed in Amsterdam pure then? Because I've known many people suffer from overdoing it there. Where would this advice come from? How could young people really be made aware of the risks? As you rightly suspect, not all the weed available in the Dam is natural and/or organic... skunk is a hybrid and most coffeeshops sell chemically inhanced hydroponically grown weed but there are a number offering bio organic and at least a couple which only sell bio/organic outdoor strains. I worked at the Cannabis College in the middle of the Red Light District for a couple of years, this is one of the many places you can get proper information regarding all aspects of cannabis in Amsterdam; from the law to growing to medicinal use. If you try to 'Talk to Frank' regards cannabis the bottom line is that it is illegal and so when it comes to questions of quality or contaminated weed they simply wont discuss it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bildo Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Cannabis doesn't cause paranoia, it occurs naturally because it is illegal. They actually ARE after you. You get wasted and then it occurs to you that people ARE out to get you and arrest you, lock you up, take your herb and lots of your money for the pleasure. It's confusing and quite a startling concept really. I'm not surprised people freak out sometimes. Imagine if you could be locked up for up to 2 (soon to be 5) years for having a bottle of wine in your house. Would that not drive you mad? It is clear to anyone who actually has any idea what they're talking about that prohibition does more harm than good. Even if cannabis does directly cause mental health problems, and all the Daily Mail headlines are true and that one toke on a joint can make you crazy. Should these people in question be targeted by the police and punished? It's unbelievably hypocritical of the government to use mental health problems as a reason to increase persecution. It would be inhumane. Everyone's different, everyone reacts differently and it doesn't work for everyone but it sure as hell doesn't harm anyone. Not in the way that alcohol, lard and salt do. Deaths caused by heart disease are immense in comparison, should sodium chloride be scheduled under class B? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem1st Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Cannabis doesn't cause paranoia, it occurs naturally because it is illegal. They actually ARE after you. You get wasted and then it occurs to you that people ARE out to get you and arrest you, lock you up, take your herb and lots of your money for the pleasure. It's confusing and quite a startling concept really. I'm not surprised people freak out sometimes. Imagine if you could be locked up for up to 2 (soon to be 5) years for having a bottle of wine in your house. Would that not drive you mad? I believe they are going to up the penalties and make the punishment an £80 fine. They have realised cannabis smokers are everday working class folk whom can have £80 squeezed out of them like any other tax payer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhimmi Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 No matter whether cannabis is good or bad, it still funds organised crime. WHICH IS BAD To be fair i have seen my friends really go down hill since they began to smoke the substance. It funds crime because it's illegal, and one has to buy it on the black market - no other reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhimmi Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 This is absolutely NOT the case in the Netherlands where a lower percentage of people smoke cannabis than here! I think you'll find it is often the illicitness of drugs that attracts many youngsters in the first place!This would seem to be true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chem1st Posted October 28, 2008 Share Posted October 28, 2008 It funds crime because it's illegal, and one has to buy it on the black market - no other reason. But like other black markets it does have its fair share of 'little fish' who plow their ernings back into the economy. A core government strategy on drugs should be to make sure all earnings from the trade of them are plowed back into the local economy. Legalisation of small scale supply and strong opposition of large scale supply would be the best strategy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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