Dutch smoking ban to cover coffee shops

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A Dutch smoking ban will come into force in July next year for all restaurants and cafes -- including coffee shops where cannabis is the top attraction, the government decided on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT



"Coffee shops will be treated in the same manner as other catering businesses. They will be smoke-free," Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told NOS television.

"It would have been wrong to move towards a smoke-free catering industry and then make an exception for coffee shops. People would not have understood that."

Establishments will not in fact have to be completely smoke-free. Proprietors will be allowed to set up a separate room or glass partition behind which people can smoke, but customers will not be served there to protect staff.

"Employees should not have to work in an environment were they are constantly exposed to the harmful effects of smoking," Balkenende said after the cabinet's decision on Friday.

Amsterdam's renowned coffee shops, where marijuana can be smoked openly in a relaxed atmosphere, are one of the city's big draws for tourists.

Coffee shop owners argue that the ban only applies to tobacco and was unlikely to hit them hard.

Whilst commonly mixed with tobacco, marijuana can also be smoked on its own, especially in pipes, vaporisers and other contraptions.

Soft drugs are officially banned in the Netherlands but under a policy of tolerance, buyers are allowed to have less than 5 grams of cannabis in their possession.

Bad News if its threw!. Any Dutch heads tuned in who can confirm this?.
It can only be a bad thing, if it happens. It;ll be ok for the largest coffee shops they;ll have the space to have outdoor smoking areas aldo Holland doesnt get that Good weather ,,lol
Sad News indeed, Im sure the shops wiil try some way around it aldo i live in Ireland and if you had of told me when i was 15 that smoking would be banned in public place's in Ireland i would have laughed but it ant funny anymore
Health Facist Times How Sad..

Peace Out D

There's no law against vaporizing!
Most of the shops will probably just get a bunch of vaporizers.

^ Yeah most likely.

Who cares, I'll buy, and roll outside the shop, smoke a quick one. Then go back in, rinse and repeat.

But seriously, they will most likely just replace everything with vaporizers. And the more wealthy coffee shops will have a smoking section.


OH NOES :thumbsup:

Just ban people who smoke ciggarettes, smoking joints or pure is fine, its when they start on that dirty stuff.

Sad news, what is the world coming to.

Isn't it common to mix weed and tobacco in Holland?

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Originally Posted by andruejaysin

Isn't it common to mix weed and tobacco in Holland?

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yeah theyre idiots

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Originally Posted by jaGerbom

yeah theyre idiots

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and your a jackass :thumbsup:

Man thats a shame theyre applying that law to weed-smoke. Although, I guess its not that different from tobacco smoke when it comes to second-hand. Just got back from Amsterdam(SO, SO beautiful over there) and theyd already sent into effect a law that bans businesses from selling alcohol and MJ at the same place. What some of the shops had done was split their business in 2... I wonder what theyll do after this BS comes in effect.

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Originally Posted by jaGerbom

yeah theyre idiots

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Dank ass bud burns a hell of a lot better when you mix a little bit of tobacco with it. Plus nobody in Europe rolls joints with small papers and it's just kinda wasteful to roll big ass pure joints all the time.

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Originally Posted by jaGerbom

yeah theyre idiots

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The only nation to introduce sensible legislation on recreational marijuana use (tolerance law since 1976) and you call them idiots...very good .:wtf: