Dutch Coffeeshops are not what they used to be...

I'm sure that this has come up already, but WTF is going on in the Netherlands?!

I was lucky enough to spend 6 months there last year, and loved going to the local coffeeshop in Alkmaar to drink coffee, smoke, and enjoy the moment. Now, talking with my friend who is a local... he says not only are the prices going up, but now you have to smoke in a little glassed in box within the coffeeshop.

This new ban on indoor smoking was passed to protect the health of the employees, but at least in this coffeeshop, the employees smoked more than the customers.

I was planning a vacation there in February, but after hearing this, I decided to make my plans elsewhere. I hear from friends in Spain that they get some decent Moroccan hash, and it's cheaper and better than in Amsterdam (although it is probably fresh out of some mule's fun hole)...

Just my rant...

The changed the smoking laws there, no tabaco smoking in the coffee shops either, so for people who smoke tabacco in there joints cant smoke them in the coffee shop.


:jointsmile:

I glad I went to Amsterdam before the smoking ban. I actually asked in the coffeeshop if I could smoke cigarettes in there and they looked at me like an alien.

But before you know it, Holland, like the rest of Europe has to be influenced by American Liberal poopoo and ban smoking.

All good things draw to an end eventually. :(

But at least you can still get ultra blazed, seeing as you can't have tabacco with your joints now. :stoned:

Dutch smoking ban to cover coffee shops | Oddly Enough | Reuters

There is the article from Reuters. The way I understood it was that all establishments were to be "smoke-free", so no smoking tobacco, weed, cigars, crack, etc...

The coffee shop owners are arguing that it only implies tobacco, but from what I understood from my friend who lives there, it includes EVERYTHING. I will ask him again when he's online, and will post back...

***CORRECTION***

Just spoke to my friend... Indeed you can smoke pure weed/hash in the coffee shops like normal, only the tobacco has to go into the separate room.

Still, I liked to put in juuuust a little tobacco in my joints... it made the taste a little better and it burned nicely also. I guess I have a hard time picturing my favorite coffee shop with a separate booth that people have to go into to smoke cigs and mixed joints, seems like it would take away from the atmosphere of the place.

Just wanted to clear that up... Sorry for the confusion

if you go to rotterdam you can still throw a lil tobaccy in your spliff other than that hit up off the path places and you can still smoke cigs most anywhere. on an unrelated note, god damned ghetto birds!

I lived in Amsterdam for 7 years and they were talking about this when I left in 06. The coffeeshop owners were planning on separating the smoking rooms in such a way that the employees wouldn't have to be in the room with the smoke.

Wonder if they started selling more joints without tobacco? I would say 8 out of 10 places didn't even offer pre-rolled without tobacco in it when I was there. Of course, pre-rolled is a ripoff, we always just got our grams. :)