cannabisnews.com: Dutch Marijuana Joints Take a Hit from Smoking Ban





Dutch Marijuana Joints Take a Hit from Smoking Ban
Posted by CN Staff on May 28, 2003 at 10:47:37 PT
By Andrew Conaway
Source: Reuters 
Amsterdam - Dutch "coffee shops" famous for selling marijuana could see business go up in smoke, as it seems the drug will be included in an upcoming ban on workplace smoking.The 2002 Tobacco Law requires all employers in the Netherlands next year to provide a smoke-free work environment for their staff.
Due to get government approval soon, the law aims to protect employees of all companies from second-hand smoke.Although cannabis is formally illegal in the Netherlands, its use and sale are tolerated under strict government conditions. Coffee shops, where customers can buy a small amount of cannabis without fear of arrest, are a major tourist draw.The bar and restaurant industry (Horeca) has been granted a one-year exception from the new law, but coffee shops do not fall within the definition of that industry."Coffee shops are not a part of Horeca," Health Ministry spokesman Bas Kuik said in an interview with Reuters Health. "They are an employer like anybody else, and they must provide a smoke-free environment."Coffee shop owners were aghast."The whole point of going to a coffee shop is to smoke," said Arjan Roskam, chairman of the Union for Cannabis Retailers."I'm really surprised by this -- it's just not logical," said Mohammad Ijounen, co-owner of the 1st Aid Coffeeshop in Amsterdam. "I mean, come on, people come here to meet and smoke, right. So now where are they going to go -- smoking in their cars?"He said that the ban would be particularly harmful to his business, as, like most coffee shops, he doesn't sell alcohol."I'm going to lose a lot of customers," he added.The Netherlands boasts around 800 cannabis cafes. Smoking a joint in an Amsterdam coffee shop vies with canal boat tours and trips to the flower market for a place on tourists' itineraries.One patron, named Deena, said that although she had sympathy for the workers, she didn't trust the government's motives."It's this religious government, man," she said, as she exhaled a large cloud of smoke. "Why don't they just outlaw pleasure and at least be honest about it?"Source: Reuters UKAuthor: Andrew ConawayPublished: May 28, 2003 Copyright: 2003 Reuters News ServiceWebsite: http://www.reuters.comContact: http://about.reuters.com/custhelp/Related Articles:Dutch Celebrate 30 Years of Legal Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14861.shtmlFirst Dutch Cannabis Cafe Marks 30th Anniversaryhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14853.shtml
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Comment #8 posted by goneposthole on May 28, 2003 at 21:41:35 PT
finger in the dike
The little Dutch boy will show up sooner than later, to be sure.If a law were passed to prohibit sex, a decrease in tobacco sales would follow. Yeah, right.In reality, cannabis will continue to be grown and harvested.Growers are out in droves north of the border right now.Not to worry, there will be a crop. It is a huge business. Might as well be legal.
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Comment #7 posted by Lehder on May 28, 2003 at 20:17:45 PT
dutch slalom
>>He said that the ban would be particularly harmful to his business, as, like most coffee
   shops, he doesn't sell alcohol.well, i guess they'll soon be serving booze then. it's been downhill for the dutch for a while now - what with the closing of hundreds of coffee shops, the popularity and then the assassination of the "right winger" ( i have to put right wing in quotes, because he certainly was right wing - but dutch style. hey, he was gay but still had the support of 1/3 the electorate) Pim Fortuyn ( anti-immigration, anti-Muslim - "Netherlands is a full country" - maybe it is). I recall that the dutch government supported the u.s. invasion. i guess it wanted to keep the dutch piece of Lockheed's $200,000,000,000 fighter jet contract. see it all on the big new tv sets (they'll haul them in with the booze) next time you go to a dutch coffee shop to get drunk; there should be plenty to argue and fight about.for only 16 million people, the dutch have held up their end of civilization and liberty extraordinarily well. but i'm worried about them. they're sure outnumbered, and we americans had better find ways to make better progress soon.>>"It's this religious government, man," she said, as she exhaled a large cloud of smoke.
   "Why don't they just outlaw pleasure and at least be honest about it?"H.L. Mencken: puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy.
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Comment #6 posted by Lehder on May 28, 2003 at 20:12:34 PT
dutch slalom
>>He said that the ban would be particularly harmful to his business, as, like most coffee
   shops, he doesn't sell alcohol.well, i guess they'll soon be serving booze then. it's been downhill for the dutch for a while now - what with the popularity and then the assassination of the dutch-style right winger Pim Fortuyn ( gay, anti-immigration, anti-Muslim - "Netherlands is a full country" - maybe it is), the closing of hundreds of coffee shops. I recall that the dutch government supported the u.s. invasion. i guess it wanted to keep the dutch piece of Lockheed's $200,000,000,000 fighter jet contract. see it all on the big new tv sets next time you go to a dutch coffee shop to get drunk; there should be plenty to argue and fight about.for only 16 million people, the dutch have held up their end of civilization and liberty extraordinarily well. but i'm worried about them. they're sure outnumbered, and we americans had better find ways to make better progress soon.>>"It's this religious government, man," she said, as she exhaled a large cloud of smoke.
   "Why don't they just outlaw pleasure and at least be honest about it?"H.L. Mencken: puritanism is the haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be happy.
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Comment #5 posted by kaptinemo on May 28, 2003 at 13:37:03 PT:
I wholeheartedly agree, Mr. Wylde
The Dutch can smell repression a mile off. This just couldn't survive the well-known 'live and let live' tolerance of the culture.If only we had strong unions here in the US as they do in Holland; if an employer was ever so rash as to propose drug testing there, he'd have thousands of unionized working people marching against him in a week. He'd either recant or go out of business in short order.Our unions just 'grunt and roll over' as my Marine dad used to put it.
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Comment #4 posted by WolfgangWylde on May 28, 2003 at 12:28:50 PT
I wouldn't worry...
...about it too much. Dutch marijuana smokers are notoriously activist (heck, how do you think the coffee shops came about in the first place?) Civil disobedence will be rampant. In fact, I don't give much hope to the smoking ban in general. The Dutch just don't put up with that kind of crap.
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Comment #3 posted by Virgil on May 28, 2003 at 12:08:37 PT
Pot by the pop
I can see a line of vending machines along the sidewalk. Pick a pellet, robot loads pellet for vaporizing or combustion. I find spliffs repulsive because of the tobacco and would go outside if there was any tobacco smoke in the room. I think this will advance vaporizers and I can easily see vending machines that sell a pop for one Euro or fractions thereof.On the issue of a word for the 15 gram dreamed threshold that Lehder raised, I would ask for the "limit" and then I would ask if it is certified. The laws will be struck down in Canada as prohibition is a cabal's imposition on the freedom of everyone and cannot be intellectually defended. I would not even know where it is even closely defended. You have Walter's clucking "Marijuana is a dangerous drug" but that is just treason chanting and not a real for goodness intellectual assault on the case of moving cannabis consumption from freedom to a denial of freedom under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.Virgil applaudes Lehder for "unnatural selection"- http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread16385.shtml#14
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Comment #2 posted by NoahTao on May 28, 2003 at 11:20:02 PT
tobacco free or smoke free?
Why does a tobacco free law have anything to do with smoked cannabis? Besides the fact that most of the dutch prefer to smoke their cannabis with tobacco... Still it seems to me that there should be a way around this for the coffeeshops. Maybe vaporization will play a larger role, Lord knows it would be a good step forward....we'll have to wait and see
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Comment #1 posted by Ethan Russo MD on May 28, 2003 at 10:58:02 PT:
Unintended Consequences
This will be interesting. The coffee shops could still be economically viable as a source of cannabis sales. However, obviously, people will be much less likely to "hang out" and buy treats there. I suspect that the Vondelpark will be extremely crowded in nice weather.
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