cannabisnews.com: Amsterdam's Coffeshops Usher in Euro Amsterdam's Coffeshops Usher in Euro Posted by FoM on January 01, 2002 at 07:53:18 PT Breaking News Source: The Age The coffee shops and red light district of Amsterdam ushered in the euro today as New Year's revellers from across Europe indulged in some of the city's pleasures widely illegal elsewhere."We've already paid with euros," proudly said Laurent, a young Parisian who came to Amsterdam for the New Year's celebrations, brandishing his first purchase with the new cash: a joint of Jamaican marijuana ready to be lit. At 2am (12pm AEDT), the city's coffee shops, where cannabis can be legally sold under certain conditions, were swelling with revellers from across Europe. With fireworks exploding in the streets and reggae music booming from a stereo, conversations in French, Italian and English could be faintly heard. Despite the presence of people from across the euro zone as well as outside it, the new cash was not in use everywhere.At the 'Rock it' coffee shop, prices were listed only in the Dutch national currency, the guilder."For the moment nobody's asked to pay in euros," said the manager.However, in the Sinbab, prices were marked in guilders and euros. The menu indicated that 0.6 grams of the house hashish cost 4.55 euros ($A7.87) or 10 florins."We want customers to pay in euros as quickly as possible," said Alfredo, the owner.A group of prostitutes in the red-light district shared the same opinion."From tonight on, I've got to be paid in euros," said one of them from a display window looking onto a canal. The price: 50 euros ($A87), or 110 florins.At least for her, the changeover to the euros means higher rates, because before it was 100 florins or 45.4 euros."It's possible that the switchover to the euro leads to a adjustment in prices in the prostitution sector, which will only bring up to the right level prices which haven't changed in 20 years, despite inflation," explained the president of an association for the protection of prostitutes."The amounts needs to correspond to a banknote, 50 euros for example, to simplify transactions," said Jan Bik who operates a brothel.In front of the windows, two Italians were trying to negotiate a price."We don't have any euros, only 'fiorini" (florins/guilders)," they said.Complete Title: Amsterdam's Coffeshops and Red-Light District Usher in EuroSource: Age, The (Australia)Published: Tuesday, January 1, 2002Copyright: 2002 The Age Company LtdWebsite: http://www.theage.com.au/Contact: letters theage.fairfax.com.auRelated Article: Common Currency Builds on Common Culture http://cannabisnews.com/news/thread11658.shtml Home Comment Email Register Recent Comments Help Comment #2 posted by Jose Melendez on January 01, 2002 at 10:02:39 PT: legal uses A nice article on cannabis products by Pete Brady is on: http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2152.html Ganja Gear by Pete Brady (31 Dec, 2001) [ Post Comment ] Comment #1 posted by Jose Melendez on January 01, 2002 at 08:15:17 PT: meanwhile, back in the states... According to Aaron's attorney, Gregg Shapiro of Boston, the higher-up drug dealers who testified against him -- men with long criminal histories, some that included crimes of violence -- are now free. But first-time nonviolent offender Clarence Aaron remains behind bars. He is serving three life sentences. Thanks to excessive federal sentencing laws, he'll rot in prison until the day he dies -- just like Robert Hanssen. "Only a presidential commutation of sentence can free him," explained Eric E. Sterling, president of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation. That's bad news, because President George W. Bush has issued no pardons or sentence commutations since he assumed office. Said U.S. Department of Justice spokesperson Susan Dryden, "That's the president's decision, based on the recommendation of the pardon attorneys. That doesn't mean there won't be anything in the future." The need for clemency has never been greater. As Sterling is quick to point out, the federal prison population hovered below 25,000 until the 1980s. Today, however, thanks to draconian federal drug laws that too frequently sentence nonviolent first offenders to years more than their crimes warrant, the federal prison population exceeds 158,000. As a 7th Circuit Court of Appeal decision noted, federal drug laws that were designed to be tough on drug kingpins have ended up over-punishing small fish: "Bold dealers may turn on their former comrades. . . . Timorous dealers may provide information about their sources and customers. Drones of the organization -- the runners, mules, drivers and lookouts -- have nothing comparable to offer. . . . Whatever tales they have to tell, their bosses have related. . . . The more serious the defendant's crimes, the lower the sentence -- because the greater his wrongs, the more information and assistance he has to offer to a prosecutor." I'll add that the sentencing laws have fallen disproportionately on African Americans. Like Aaron. from: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/12/30/ED154230.DTL Drug War is TREASON [ Post Comment ] Post Comment