Dutch marijuana coffee shops brace for smoking ban

[many a good man]

Source: Associated Press

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - This city's famed marijuana bars have weathered many challenges over the years and are still smoking. But now they face an unwelcome blast of fresh air: On July 1, the Netherlands will be one of the last European countries to ban smoking in bars and restaurants in compliance with EU law.


The Health Ministry says the ban will apply to cafes that sell marijuana, known as coffee shops. But this being Holland, which for centuries has experimented with social liberalism, there's a loophole: The ban covers tobacco but not marijuana, which is technically illegal anyway.

But that still leaves coffee shops and their customers in a bind. Dutch and other European marijuana users traditionally smoke pot in fat, cone-shaped joints mixed with tobacco.

"It's the world upside down: In other countries they look for the marijuana in the cigarette. Here they look for the cigarette in the marijuana," said Jason den Enting, manager of coffee shop Dampkring.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080628/ap_on_re_eu/netherlands_smoking_ban_4

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Last quote cracks me up! :rofl:

[hlthe2b]

1. God love em...

Nah, healthwise, at least, it is the rest of the world that is upside down.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. Dutch coffee-shop patrons will benefit in the long run

They may learn that it's more pleasurable without the addition of tobacco. Anyway, glad to see that the ban doesn't affect cannabis.

[Ghost Dog]

13. Absolutely. Smoke the grass neat, inside and in comfort; then step out into the street

if you feel the need to sneak a hit of nicotine.

:-)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Do the coffee shops sell brownies?

Made with marijuana? Or cookies? I mean, Dutch chocolate is almost as famous as those cafes, and putting in Bud Butter would still allow patrons to enjoy a buzz.

[ixion]

4. Beer, brownies, soda, etc

I had a marijuana beer there that knocked me on my a**.

[JVS]

6. beer? what's the brand name? I want some

[ixion]

29. hmmm... I don't remember... it was quite some time ago

it was a local beer they were serving at one of the pubs, but I'll be damned if I can remember.

[Uncle Joe]

11. What do they call it, Bud Lite? n/t

[np33]

28. Beer

hmm I heard the milkshakes will also knock you out. But had mostly the space cake brownies, muffins, etc and that had some pretty strong effects.

[XemaSab]

8. Eating pot brownies is a one way ticket to getting WRECKED

:o

[regnaD kciN]

19. True...it's a serious health hazard...

I mean, consuming all that sugar and fat might lead to heart problems! ;-)

[sofa king]

17. I'm told most places have vaporizers, too.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaporizer

I should think vaporizers would be fine for tobacco as well, as there is no "smoke" involved in the process.

[pitohui]

21. they have space cakes

you don't need to smoke at all

as for smokes have to admit i prefer the "no tobacco" smoke because of tobacco's addictive power but suspect i'm in the minority

[Botany]

5. So get rid of the tobacco

[dysfunctional press]

9. it's about time europe caught on to that- NOBODY in the u.s. mixes tobacco with weed.

ick.

[Codeine]

16. Not cigarette tobacco, maybe.

Around here it's the norm to mix it into a split-open cigar, preferably a grape- or peach-flavored cigar.

[dysfunctional press]

18. never heard of that- and i certainly never would- cigars are sickening.

what a waste of weed.

btw- if you split the cigar open,how does it work to smoke it? wouldn't that be akin to putting a big hole in a drinking straw...? in that when you tried to draw on the stogie, the air would be coming in through the split, rather than at the end where the fire would be...? :shrug:

[dogfacedboy]

26. It's known as a "blunt".

The cigar is slit open longways, the tobacco removed, and the "skin" is then filled with weed. It is then rolled up as with a cigarette paper, and licked heavily to seal it up.
I don't get it either. I've tried 'em twice, but don't like the cigar flavor.

[shanti]

20. unless they hang with jamaicans

the majority of the jamaicans i know do this too. blunts...

[harmonicon]

7. so lame

I was in Holland for the first time ever this year and had a fabulous time. Fuck the "coffee shops" - they're just like Hard Rock Cafe or some shit like that for the tourists.... I wouldn't be found dead in one of them. What I did enjoy was going to old traditional Dutch bars/cafes and having a beer and a cigarette. Kill your cultural heritage, keep the tourist trade..... fuckwads.

[nodehopper]

22. maybe you weren't in the right coffeeshops

there are certainly many that are nothing like Hard Rock Cafe...perhaps you will discover them on your subsequent visits.

[harmonicon]

25. maybe you're right

They just seemed awful to me though - the ones I saw. Giant places with giant glowing signs and lots of lights and really LOUD music playing. All things that I hate. My friends who I was staying with showed no interest in them at all, and I always like to do what the locals do. I went to several great bars, restaurants and cafes, including a place that specialized in whiskies from all over the world - they had hundreds, if not thousands. Such an awesome city.

[np33]

27. Really

I was just there a few months ago and they were the most low key places in Amesterdam. So I don't know what places you went but Hard Rock Cafe it was not.

[ThePowerofWill]

10. The Dutch need tobacco in that crap they sell.

It's the tobacco that gives you the buzz not the herb. Overrated Dutch crap. Everything in the Dutch stash is mostly ripped off watered down American genetics.

I challenge anyone to name a single Dutch offering(thats worth a shit) thats not made up of American genetics.

[armodem08]

12. You gotta love the editorializing AP writer though..

"But this being Holland, which for centuries has experimented with social liberalism, there's a loophole: The ban covers tobacco but not marijuana, which is technically illegal anyway."

Oh no! Not social liberalism! :sarcasm:


Seriously, the Dutch have reduced the crime due to marijuana by simply providing a legal avenue to enjoy it that falls short of complete legalization. Where else could that legal model possibly help? :shrug:

[Nevernose]

31. Social Liberalism is a gateway drug

At first it's "cool" to experiment with social liberalism: you register to vote Green, you start taking the bus everywhere because you want to shock your bourgeoisie roommates, and you've got a poster of Che on the wall of your dorm.

But then you need more and more, and social liberalism just won't give you that political high you need, so you move on to other things, like Maoism and traditional communism. Pretty soon you're forcing heiresses to rob banks, bombing hydroelectric dams, and advocating for gay marriage.

Here are a few steps you can take to prevent your child from becoming involved with social liberalism:

1. Talk to your child. Explain to them that, if they become a social liberal, you won't love them anymore, and that if the commies take over, they won't be able to inherit the house after you die.

2. Be involved with the TV they watch and the video games they play. Television should be restricted to Fox News only -- everything else is liberal propaganda. Video games should only be allowed if they are GRAPHICALLY violent -- if you can't see blood splatters, then the game is part of a liberal conspiracy to feminize young boys.

3. Look for early warning signs, such as being nice to others, talking about fairness, or being a registered Democrat. If you can reach them early, it might not be too late. If they show any of these warning signs, don't hesitate to call Homeland Security. They're here to help you.

[MikeNearMcChord]

14. If you read the story, it looks like the RW kooks are making

real hard for the Dutch and others to enjoy life. H.L. Mencken was right when he said
Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.

[Spouting Horn]

23. The right wingers

aren't the only group in Holland that is making it hell for the Dutch.

[iverglas]

24. spouting something ...

[truthisfreedom]

15. My girlfriend and I attracted lots of attention in a hash bar in Amsterdam in the 80's

when we smoked hash under glass. Nobody there had ever seen it before... we didn't want to smoke tobacco so we used her broach pin and a cardboard beer coaster with an empty drinking glass. You light a small blob or chip of hash stuck on a pin through a card and blow it out, trapping the ensuing smoke with a glass until it's sufficiently full, and breathe in the smoke as you tilt back the glass from the card, carefully returning it to the card to trap any more smoke. It's highly efficient, really, and easily done in a bar if you just have a straight pin, safety pin, or for that matter, a political pin. We drew a crowd of interested smokers who were trying to understand just how the process worked.

Of course, that was the 80's... I haven't been back to Amsterdam since. Perhaps smoking under glass is common now. I do recall that we had a wide range of hash choices at the bar to peruse through... and the bar's owner had a broken thumb from a thumb-wrestling contest he'd apparently lost.

[dbonds]

30. Having spent a few weeks in Amsterdam, I can say I didn't see anyone smoking blunts.

The smoke there is a 1 hit wonder. You really don't need much more than that. I messed up first time I tried it and smoke about half a joint to myself, wasted the rest of the day sleeping (you don't want to sleep away a day while on vacation).