cannabisnews.com: Say High To These Alternative Amsterdams 





Say High To These Alternative Amsterdams 
Posted by CN Staff on March 13, 2005 at 08:08:30 PT
By Gemma Bowes 
Source: Observer UK
The Dutch are clamping down on coffeeshops, and 'herbal tourists' will soon have to look elsewhere, writes Gemma Bowes. Amsterdam has long been the cannabis capital of the world. Smoky haunts offer 'da herb' in one-gram bags or individual spliffs to everyone from stoned hippies to retired first-timers in all manner of coffeshops - sleek lounge bars, gayclubs, cosy cafes and New Age retreats. Though the tourism authorities may be wary to admit that Mary Jane attracts more tourist attention than Anne Frank, the relaxed attitude to cannabis is one of Amsterdam's biggest draws.
The police have long turned a blind eye and the coffeeshop owners get on with 'cannabusiness' relatively unchallenged. But all this could shortly change. Last week, the International Narcotics Control Board reported that the conservative coalition government plans to crack down on the coffee shop industry. By 2010, the city's culture of coffee and cannabis could even be extinct. But not only are Amsterdam's coffee shops part of the city's streetlife, they're also a mainstay of its tourism industry. Some two million Britons visit Amsterdam each year - they are not all coming for the Rijksmuseum, art galleries and the canals. Hash coffeeshops have been attracting fans of the 'wonderful' weed since 1972, when the first outlets took root in the city. Holland's current legal stance is that use of the drug is not illegal, but possession is against the law, though anyone caught with less than 30g is not prosecuted. Those over 18 can buy up to five grams in a coffee shop. 'Coffeeshops are just an ordinary part of the city scene, and that ordinariness in a way has its charm,' said Rodney Bolt author of the Cadogan guide to Amsterdam and the Randstad. He also believes they serve a useful purpose. 'Coffeeshops go a long way to demystifing dope, to keeping kids away from people who might try and sell them harder stuff, and to allowing police to keep an eye on things.' Although they avoid active promotion of cannabis tourism, a spokeswoman for the Netherlands tourism authority admits that, 'A small part of the tourism to Amsterdam is people coming for the coffee shops.' Bolt adds: 'Brits, and Americans especially,who are out for a little naughtiness see a smoke as part of an Amsterdam package along with drinking and an ogle through the red-light district.' But now, the government wants local authorities to reduce the number of coffeeshops, especially near schools and areas bordering other countries. It has also voiced its concerns over links between the coffeeshop industry and the illicit drug trade, drug-related crime and health and social problems. The number of cannabis stores in Holland has already dropped from 1,500 to 750 over the past five years. Nol van Shaik, one of Holland's leading coffeeshop owners, said: 'I had a meeting with the police in Amsterdam this week, and while they do not want to make using cannabis impossible in Holland, in Amsterdam they want to decrease the number of coffeeshops from 250 to 120, and will do everything they can to do so. If owners are caught breaking the rules, such as selling to under 18s, or advertising cannabis, they will close them down.' Closing down the shops could take away some of Amsterdam's unique charm, and may cause tourists to look elsewhere for their herbal holiday. A spokeswoman from STA Travel said: 'Tourists might look to other liberal places such as Copenhagen for that kind of holiday. They could become the new Amsterdams.' The Permissive World of Pot UsersSpanish HighWhere: Malaga Legal position: Though the law says selling cannabis is illegal, it is effectively decriminalised, and personal possession of up to five plants, seeds and cannabis for personal use is tolerated. According to Nol van Shaik, owner of 16 coffeeshops, including Willie Wortel's in Haarlem, just outside Amsterdam, and founder of the Global Hempmuseum, Haarlem. Why?: 'It has a perfect climate for growing cannabis plants as it's in the hottest part of Spain. It's close to Morocco, from where much of the stuff is imported. There's been an explosion of shops selling equipment for growing your own plants, and most of them have a legal smoking corner. I'm going to open a members-only coffeeshop resort in the area this summer, with a shop, cafe and campsite, next year I'll add bungalows.' Van The ManWhere: Vancouver Legal position: Cannabis used medicinally is legal, and possession of up to 15 grams has been decriminalised to a minor offence which can incur charges. According to David Bienenstock and Steve Bloom, co-editors of High Times, a specialist USA-based magazine for cannabis enthusiasts. Why?: 'Vancouver is also known as "Vansterdam". That's because it's the only other major city in the world where you can smoke marijuana relatively freely. There are several "smoke friendly" Amsterdam-style coffeeshops there, such as Blunt Brothers and the Amsterdam Cafe. You can't purchase marijuana in the shops but you can bring your own herb and smoke it on site. There are also pot-friendly bed and breakfasts, and even tour groups dedicated to showing you the town in stoner style. Also, the city is surrounded by beautiful wilderness, and is close to world-class mountain sports.' Smoked DanishWhere: Copenhagen Legal position: The cannabis market is illegal, but it is very rare to be arrested or charged for possessing small amounts. According to Chris Fowlie, head of the National Organisation for the Reform of Marijuana Laws in New Zealand, who toured the world to research cannabis regulations and culture. Why?: 'In the middle of Copenhagen, in a former army barracks, is a 30-year old squat called Christiania of more than 1,000 people and whose most famous feature is a marijuana and hash marketplace. Governments have constantly threatened to close it but never succeeded. Pusher Street is lined by 20 wooden booths where dealers sell large bricks of exotic hash and baskets of marijuana from around the world.' Give us a KifWhere: Morocco Legal position: It is illegal, but widely available and even the drug manufacturers are rarely prosecuted. Morocco is one of the world's leading suppliers. According to Shiona Jenkins, author of the Lonely Planet guide to Egypt. Why?: 'Lebanon and Dahab in Egypt were historically the places to go in the Middle East, but there was a crack down in the Nineties, and though a lot of marijuana is still grown in the Sinai mountains in Egypt, it is difficult to get it. Morocco is the place people go to for cannabis now, there's lots of hash and kif grown in the mountains. It's also famous for all the kif-imbued literature, such as the writing by Paul Bowles.'But , please remember, it's really not very good for you ...A spokesman for the National Drugs Prevention Alliance -- http://www.drugprevent.org.uk -- one of the UK's leading drugs prevention charities, says: 'Our advice is don't take cannabis. Whether you smoke it, ingest it or insert it in unusual orifices it can cause physical health problems including head and neck cancers, as well as mental health problems such as psychoses and the onset of latent schizophrenia. People who take it are more likely to have intellectual, social and emotional problems, to drop out and be emotionally volatile in relationships. We know the Dutch authorities are taking the health effects more seriously and looking at their policies again, and Amsterdam is a wonderful place you can visit without having to take cannabis.'Source: Observer, The (UK)Author: Gemma Bowes Published: Sunday, March 13, 2005Copyright: 2005 The ObserverContact: letters observer.co.ukWebsite: http://www.observer.co.uk/Related Articles: INCB Praises Dutch Marijuana Crackdownhttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread20308.shtmlClampdown Could Spell Trouble for Coffee Shopshttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread19851.shtmlDutch Celebrate 30 Years of Legal Pothttp://cannabisnews.com/news/thread14861.shtml 
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Comment #4 posted by afterburner on March 13, 2005 at 21:23:57 PT
Article in Comment #1: A Pile of Dung
{White House Official Says **Medicine** Consumption Knows No Borders{International meeting addresses anti-*Medicine* policy, measures{March 12, 2005{Consumption of narcotics--}[Narcotics is another misused weasel-word. Cannabis, the number one target of all this anti-medicine hysteria, is not a narcotic (the use of emotionally-charged words like "drug" and unscientific descriptions, like narcotics mis-applied to not only true narcotics, but also to very different psychoactive chemicals and plants, like stimulants and psychedelics, is a global travesty.)]{--"doesn't know the limits of borders" and "almost all the countries of Europe are concerned about people moving across borders, both moving *Medicine* and coming across borders to consume *Medicine*," said the director of the White House's Office of National *Medicine* Control Policy in Washington March 10.{...The delegates came from a variety of nations in Europe, Africa, Asia, central and South America, he said, adding he had never seen the level of international cooperation as extensive as now.{Despite "real areas of difference in some of the policies and measures, there is a great deal of unity" in the concern expressed and the measures that need to be taken, Walters said.{"I did not see [the government leaders of] a single nation that I visited believing that *Medicine* use is okay. It's bigger than they want in every single nation I visited. They are worried about distribution and crime. They want to control the supply. And they are worried about disease and addiction...and the growing danger this poses to young people."{Following is the transcript of the briefing:{(begin transcript){Foreign Press Center Briefing with John Walters, Director of the Office Of National *Medicine* Control Policy, the White House; and Calvina Fay, Executive Director Of *Medicine* Free America Foundation and Save Our Society From *Medicine* (S.O.S.){Topic: "U.S. Perspectives On European *Medicine* Policy And 'Harm Reduction'"{The Washington Foreign Press Center, Washington, D.C.{11:30 A.M. Est, Thursday, March 10, 2005{MR. PRINCE: Good morning, and welcome to the Washington Foreign Press Center. We're very pleased to have with us this morning John Walters, Director of the White House's Office of National *Medicine* Control Policy; and Calvina Fay, Executive Director of *Medicine*-Free America Foundation.{They have both recently returned from a conference in Brussels that was hosted by three European and international organizations committed to reducing *Medicine* abuse. One of the results of the conference was a statement taking a position on harm reduction policies. This text is in your press kit, as well as other related information. Ms. Fay will be able to tell you much more about the conference in her remarks and in the Q&A.{Ms. Fay will start with a statement, and then Director Walters will follow.{MS. FAY: Thank you. Good morning. As was stated, my name is Calvina Fay. I'm the Executive Director of *Medicine*-Free America Foundation, which is a national and international nonprofit *Medicine* policy and education foundation based in St. Petersburg, Florida.{On March 1 and 2, we supported a conference in the European parliament in Brussels, Belgium, titled "International Dimensions for European *Medicine* Policy." The conference was hosted by Ms. Charlotte Cederchiöld, a member and former Vice President of the European Parliament. It was organized by European Cities Against *Medicine*, the Institute on Global *Medicine* Policy, and the International Scientific and Medical Forum on *Medicine* Abuse. It was supported by the *Medicine*-Free America Foundation and the *Medicine* Prevention Network of the Americas.{In attendance were delegates from North and South America, as well as delegates from all over Europe. This included members of the parliament, other high-level European officials and leaders from non-governmental agencies.{The purpose of the conference was to counter the efforts by certain groups, including many that are funded by the Daddy Warbucks of *Medicine* legalization, Mr. George Soros. These groups are promoting permissive *Medicine* policies in Europe and around the world under the guise of so-called harm reduction. The phrase "harm reduction" and its obvious meaning has been hijacked and cynically employed by those whose goal it is to legalize *Medicine*. They use the obvious universal desire to reduce harm to promote the legalization of *Medicine*. *Medicine* legalizers use the phrase to gain the sympathy of well-meaning people and governmental officials.{I want to make it clear that rational *Medicine* policies which recognize that the temporary use of measures to reduce harm, with the goal of ultimately having a person abstinent, are fundamentally different from so-called harm reduction *Medicine* policies which accept the inevitability of *Medicine* use.{Our conference supported the United Nations' position that the goal of national and global *Medicine* policies and strategies must be to prevent and stop *Medicine* use. It supported abstinence from *Medicine* use as a reasonable and achievable goal for public health policy, and a policy of no use of illegal *Medicine* or destructive use of legal *Medicine*. Speakers at our conference overwhelmingly spoke in support of comprehensive prevention, treatment and enforcement strategies to prevent and eliminate illegal *Medicine* use and, thereby, their undeniable harm.{They overwhelmingly opposed usurping multinational treaties and agreements and replacing the goal of preventing and reducing *Medicine* use with a strategy by whatever name, whether you call it harm reduction or whatever, that seeks to normalize various forms of *Medicine* use.{In preparation of the conference, members of the International Task Force on Strategic *Medicine* Policies met for two days prior to the conference to exchange information on the *Medicine* policy issue and to strategize on how to best promote sound *Medicine* policies throughout the world in an effort to protect our children from the harms of *Medicine*. The task force, which is a group of worldwide experts on *Medicine* policy, issued a statement on so-called harm reduction that was disseminated at the conference in the parliament. As was referenced in my introduction, that statement is in your press kit.{Speakers at our conference included high-level officials, such as Mr. Herbert Schaepe, the former Secretary of the International Narcotics Control Board, or INCB; Mr. Morgan Johansson, the Minister of Public Health and Social Services in Sweden; Cheryl Gillan, member of parliament of the U.K. and a *Medicine* policy expert; Mr. Claude Ruey, a member of the Swiss parliament; and a number of medical doctors and researchers from the U.S. and Europe who have closely studied the issue of so-called harm reduction.{One very special speaker was our Director of the White House's Office of National *Medicine* Control Policy, Mr. John Walters. Director Walters will now share with you a few words about his participation in our conference and his visit to Europe.}[The political intent of these prohibitionists, who continue to suggest making *Medicine* a justice-issue instead of a medical-issue, is obvious when the word *Medicine*, a staple of medical treatment, is used to replace the emotionallly-charged scare word, "drugs." And those so-called UN treaties are well-known to be Uncle Sam's babies forced on the rest of the world by US political, military and economic pressures.*Medicine*-Free America or World: tell that to the asthmatic child, who needs his puffer, tell that to the diabetic, who needs her insulin, tell that to the old man, who needs his viagra, tell that to the pharmaceutical companies who not only manufacture "drugs" or *Medicine*, but also aggressively market them! Tell it to the vintners, the brewers, the distillers, who not manufacture "drugs" or "alcoholic beverages," but also aggressively market them!]
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Comment #3 posted by Hope on March 13, 2005 at 15:32:23 PT
When I read that article in comment 1
I kept understanding why the "peasants", a.k.a. the "people", rise up against the rich, arrogant, overbearing, creeps who have nothing better to do than meddle in the lives of the people they think they are better than. 
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Comment #2 posted by rchandar on March 13, 2005 at 14:23:35 PT:
the article is bogus...
...it's bogus, dude. Go to Williewortel.org; they're not going to "extinct" shops by 2010. Just ain't gonna happen, shops are licensed by the city or town, not the government. The city governments are FOR coffee shops, not against them.--don't listen to the British press. Bunch of lies.--rchandar
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Comment #1 posted by FoM on March 13, 2005 at 09:49:42 PT
Drug Consumption Knows No Borders
White House Official Says Drug Consumption Knows No BordersInternational meeting addresses anti-drug policy, measuresMarch 12, 2005Consumption of narcotics "doesn't know the limits of borders" and "almost all the countries of Europe are concerned about people moving across borders, both moving drugs and coming across borders to consume them," said the director of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington March 10.Speaking at the State Department's Foreign Press Center, John Walters said he met with members of Parliament and other high-level officials from nongovernmental agencies at a conference in Brussels March 1-2. The delegates came from a variety of nations in Europe, Africa, Asia, central and South America, he said, adding he had never seen the level of international cooperation as extensive as now.Despite "real areas of difference in some of the policies and measures, there is a great deal of unity" in the concern expressed and the measures that need to be taken, Walters said."I did not see [the government leaders of] a single nation that I visited believing that drug use is okay. It's bigger than they want in every single nation I visited. They are worried about distribution and crime. They want to control the supply. And they are worried about disease and addiction...and the growing danger this poses to young people."Following is the transcript of the briefing:(begin transcript)Foreign Press Center Briefing with John Walters, Director of the Office Of National Drug Control Policy, the White House; and Calvina Fay, Executive Director Of Drug Free America Foundation and Save Our Society From Drugs (S.O.S.)Topic: "U.S. Perspectives On European Drug Policy And 'Harm Reduction'"The Washington Foreign Press Center, Washington, D.C.11:30 A.M. Est, Thursday, March 10, 2005MR. PRINCE: Good morning, and welcome to the Washington Foreign Press Center. We're very pleased to have with us this morning John Walters, Director of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy; and Calvina Fay, Executive Director of Drug-Free America Foundation.They have both recently returned from a conference in Brussels that was hosted by three European and international organizations committed to reducing drug abuse. One of the results of the conference was a statement taking a position on harm reduction policies. This text is in your press kit, as well as other related information. Ms. Fay will be able to tell you much more about the conference in her remarks and in the Q&A.Ms. Fay will start with a statement, and then Director Walters will follow.MS. FAY: Thank you. Good morning. As was stated, my name is Calvina Fay. I'm the Executive Director of Drug-Free America Foundation, which is a national and international nonprofit drug policy and education foundation based in St. Petersburg, Florida.On March 1 and 2, we supported a conference in the European parliament in Brussels, Belgium, titled "International Dimensions for European Drug Policy." The conference was hosted by Ms. Charlotte Cederchiöld, a member and former Vice President of the European Parliament. It was organized by European Cities Against Drugs, the Institute on Global Drug Policy, and the International Scientific and Medical Forum on Drug Abuse. It was supported by the Drug-Free America Foundation and the Drug Prevention Network of the Americas.In attendance were delegates from North and South America, as well as delegates from all over Europe. This included members of the parliament, other high-level European officials and leaders from non-governmental agencies.The purpose of the conference was to counter the efforts by certain groups, including many that are funded by the Daddy Warbucks of drug legalization, Mr. George Soros. These groups are promoting permissive drug policies in Europe and around the world under the guise of so-called harm reduction. The phrase "harm reduction" and its obvious meaning has been hijacked and cynically employed by those whose goal it is to legalize drugs. They use the obvious universal desire to reduce harm to promote the legalization of drugs. Drug legalizers use the phrase to gain the sympathy of well-meaning people and governmental officials.I want to make it clear that rational drug policies which recognize that the temporary use of measures to reduce harm, with the goal of ultimately having a person abstinent, are fundamentally different from so-called harm reduction drug policies which accept the inevitability of drug use.Our conference supported the United Nations' position that the goal of national and global drug policies and strategies must be to prevent and stop drug use. It supported abstinence from drug use as a reasonable and achievable goal for public health policy, and a policy of no use of illegal drugs or destructive use of legal drugs. Speakers at our conference overwhelmingly spoke in support of comprehensive prevention, treatment and enforcement strategies to prevent and eliminate illegal drug use and, thereby, their undeniable harm.They overwhelmingly opposed usurping multinational treaties and agreements and replacing the goal of preventing and reducing drug use with a strategy by whatever name, whether you call it harm reduction or whatever, that seeks to normalize various forms of drug use.In preparation of the conference, members of the International Task Force on Strategic Drug Policies met for two days prior to the conference to exchange information on the drug policy issue and to strategize on how to best promote sound drug policies throughout the world in an effort to protect our children from the harms of drugs. The task force, which is a group of worldwide experts on drug policy, issued a statement on so-called harm reduction that was disseminated at the conference in the parliament. As was referenced in my introduction, that statement is in your press kit.Speakers at our conference included high-level officials, such as Mr. Herbert Schaepe, the former Secretary of the International Narcotics Control Board, or INCB; Mr. Morgan Johansson, the Minister of Public Health and Social Services in Sweden; Cheryl Gillan, member of parliament of the U.K. and a drug policy expert; Mr. Claude Ruey, a member of the Swiss parliament; and a number of medical doctors and researchers from the U.S. and Europe who have closely studied the issue of so-called harm reduction.One very special speaker was our Director of the White House's Office of National Drug Control Policy, Mr. John Walters. Director Walters will now share with you a few words about his participation in our conference and his visit to Europe.Thank you.DIRECTOR WALTERS: Thank you, Calvina. Good morning to all of you. Thanks for coming.Snipped:Complete Article: http://www.allamericanpatriots.com/m-news+article+storyid-7790-PHPSESSID-8b4f8b627992c44d3b2804f55b4fb636.html
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