Johnny
New Member
Thomas Weise, a 23-year-old Danish tourist, sits in a coffee shop in central Amsterdam, pinioned by Holland's bizarre smoking laws.
Due to the country's relaxed drug policy, he is allowed to smoke dope in here, but since July 1, he can't indulge his other habit - cigarettes.
Mr Weise's problem is that his marijuana joint, which is not banned, is stashed in his cigarette packet, which is banned. So he fights his way through smoke clouds, past young tourists wearing sunglasses and old stoners wearing beards, to the secrecy of a toilet cubicle. From there he extracts the spliff, nestled next to his illicit tobacco.
In line with most other European Union nations, Holland has banned tobacco in the workplace. But unlike other nations, it will continue to turn a blind eye to pot-smoking inside specific workplaces, namely Amsterdam's notorious coffee shops, where it is legal to sell up to five grams of marijuana to individual users.
The practical effect for the city's numerous coffee shops is that patrons still have to fight through clouds of smoke, but the smoke is of pure ganja.
Tourists who would otherwise mix their joints with tobacco get even more stoned than usual. And tobacco smokers must go outside to feed their habit but can't take their joints with them because it's illegal to smoke marijuana on the pavement.
"Anywhere else in the world, you can't have weed in any tobacco," says Ian Thomas, a waiter-cum-dope-sommelier at the Blues Brothers Coffee Shop in Amsterdam. "Now this is the only country where you're not allowed to put tobacco in your weed."
Quite apart from the irony of the law, many coffee shop owners worry the tobacco ban will kill their business, rooted in a long-standing liberal drug policy of harm minimisation.
The Dutch Government is headed by conservative Christian Democrats, who staunchly refused to exempt coffee shops from the ban, even though the shops make their living through smoking. Health Minister Abraham Klink has made it clear he would be happy if coffee shops died because of the ban.
Across Holland, local councils are shutting down coffee shops, most recently in Rotterdam, where the city council recently rescinded the licences of 27 of them. Some owners fear the Government will use the anti-tobacco laws as a cover to revoke their licences.
Practically, they say, it is hard to know whether patrons are smoking tobacco inside, mixed with their marijuana. They also worry patrons will now buy their pot and leave, because they can't smoke tobacco freely.
"For me it is hard to understand that this is happening," says Pieter Koning, the manager of the Grasshopper, one of Amsterdam's largest and most famous coffee shops.
Koning doesn't drink much alcohol, but like many Dutch, he smokes a joint every night to unwind. He thinks Holland's relaxed soft-drug policy has led to a reduction in people with serious drug problems. He does not believe marijuana is harmful, and says it could even be used to treat stress.
"They always say it makes people paranoid, but I also know people who get really easygoing on it. You never see a fight in a coffee shop, but I have seen many in bars," he says.
Mr Koning's business has dropped off slightly since the tobacco ban. Remaining customers have flocked to the outdoor terrace.
"But there are many small places that don't have a terrace, and they are in neighbourhoods where people don't expect a lot of outside noise," he says. "I think maybe the small places will close down ... they are important for Amsterdam because it is known for the nice buildings and little, charming cafes."
Coffee shops large and small have tried to comply with the ban, for fear of losing their licences. Some shops police tobacco on their premises. Some provide jars of an alternative herb mix that looks (and reportedly tastes) like oregano. Others admit off the record they turn a blind eye if customers smoke joints with tobacco.
Connie Turubassa is the 39-year-old owner of the Double Reggae coffee shop, which is full of blissed-out tourists. In here, it is impossible to breathe without inhaling large amounts of marijuana smoke. She predicts fewer customers will linger in the shop.
"Normally they would buy something to drink or eat. Now they buy and leave."
Across town, the manager of the Doors coffee shop, who asks not to be named, is more optimistic. "Everybody is so negative about it, but we should be positive that we are still able to smoke weed. It's the only country in the world where we are able to smoke (marijuana) and we should be happy about it."
He breaks off to serve some customers - enthusiastic Americans in their 20s. He talks them through the varieties of pot enclosed in a glass-topped box on the counter. The box's lid is opaque, until you press a button to illuminate it - this is to get around laws prohibiting advertising of marijuana.
On display are varieties including Space Cream, described as giving you an "active and happy" high, and White Widow, which the sommelier says is "heavy and stays with you for a few hours".
He insists his business will not suffer from the tobacco ban but mutters darkly about bad press recently.
"What does tobacco do for the people anyway? Except damage. Tobacco makes people paranoid. Marijuana makes people have fun."
Indeed, the ill-effects of tobacco are indisputable, but the evidence on marijuana is more mixed. In a 2007 study rating the harmfulness of illicit drugs, published in The Lancet medical journal, cannabis was classed in the group of drugs that do the least harm. The most harmful were heroin and cocaine. Tobacco and alcohol were in the top 10.
Inhaling cannabis smoke can cause cancer, but at lower rates than tobacco. Some evidence shows THC, the active chemical in marijuana, may even have a protective effect against cancer.
More serious are its effects on mental health. Another Lancet study, published last July, showed cannabis users have a 41% greater risk of psychosis. This risk increases if there is a genetic predisposition to psychiatric illness.
Nonetheless, the perception remains among most Dutch that marijuana is harmless.
Mark Robson, a 27-year-old Englishman who works at the Pimpelmee Cafe in Amsterdam's red-light district, laughs at the irony of the ban on tobacco.
Since July 1, he has noticed more people getting sick from smoking pot, he says.
"The tourists come here and then they are out cold, because they're smoking pure joints."
He predicts the tobacco ban will "kill the culture.
"We had a cafe culture here," he says. "It was one of the main themes and focal points of Dutch culture. This is a place for people to come to chill out, and smoke, both weed and tobacco."
Newshawk: JohnnyPotSmoker: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Age (Australia)
Copyright: 2008 Fairfax Digital
Contact: Contact Us - The Age
Website: Joint not the same since the Dutch banned tobacco | theage.com.au
Due to the country's relaxed drug policy, he is allowed to smoke dope in here, but since July 1, he can't indulge his other habit - cigarettes.
Mr Weise's problem is that his marijuana joint, which is not banned, is stashed in his cigarette packet, which is banned. So he fights his way through smoke clouds, past young tourists wearing sunglasses and old stoners wearing beards, to the secrecy of a toilet cubicle. From there he extracts the spliff, nestled next to his illicit tobacco.
In line with most other European Union nations, Holland has banned tobacco in the workplace. But unlike other nations, it will continue to turn a blind eye to pot-smoking inside specific workplaces, namely Amsterdam's notorious coffee shops, where it is legal to sell up to five grams of marijuana to individual users.
The practical effect for the city's numerous coffee shops is that patrons still have to fight through clouds of smoke, but the smoke is of pure ganja.
Tourists who would otherwise mix their joints with tobacco get even more stoned than usual. And tobacco smokers must go outside to feed their habit but can't take their joints with them because it's illegal to smoke marijuana on the pavement.
"Anywhere else in the world, you can't have weed in any tobacco," says Ian Thomas, a waiter-cum-dope-sommelier at the Blues Brothers Coffee Shop in Amsterdam. "Now this is the only country where you're not allowed to put tobacco in your weed."
Quite apart from the irony of the law, many coffee shop owners worry the tobacco ban will kill their business, rooted in a long-standing liberal drug policy of harm minimisation.
The Dutch Government is headed by conservative Christian Democrats, who staunchly refused to exempt coffee shops from the ban, even though the shops make their living through smoking. Health Minister Abraham Klink has made it clear he would be happy if coffee shops died because of the ban.
Across Holland, local councils are shutting down coffee shops, most recently in Rotterdam, where the city council recently rescinded the licences of 27 of them. Some owners fear the Government will use the anti-tobacco laws as a cover to revoke their licences.
Practically, they say, it is hard to know whether patrons are smoking tobacco inside, mixed with their marijuana. They also worry patrons will now buy their pot and leave, because they can't smoke tobacco freely.
"For me it is hard to understand that this is happening," says Pieter Koning, the manager of the Grasshopper, one of Amsterdam's largest and most famous coffee shops.
Koning doesn't drink much alcohol, but like many Dutch, he smokes a joint every night to unwind. He thinks Holland's relaxed soft-drug policy has led to a reduction in people with serious drug problems. He does not believe marijuana is harmful, and says it could even be used to treat stress.
"They always say it makes people paranoid, but I also know people who get really easygoing on it. You never see a fight in a coffee shop, but I have seen many in bars," he says.
Mr Koning's business has dropped off slightly since the tobacco ban. Remaining customers have flocked to the outdoor terrace.
"But there are many small places that don't have a terrace, and they are in neighbourhoods where people don't expect a lot of outside noise," he says. "I think maybe the small places will close down ... they are important for Amsterdam because it is known for the nice buildings and little, charming cafes."
Coffee shops large and small have tried to comply with the ban, for fear of losing their licences. Some shops police tobacco on their premises. Some provide jars of an alternative herb mix that looks (and reportedly tastes) like oregano. Others admit off the record they turn a blind eye if customers smoke joints with tobacco.
Connie Turubassa is the 39-year-old owner of the Double Reggae coffee shop, which is full of blissed-out tourists. In here, it is impossible to breathe without inhaling large amounts of marijuana smoke. She predicts fewer customers will linger in the shop.
"Normally they would buy something to drink or eat. Now they buy and leave."
Across town, the manager of the Doors coffee shop, who asks not to be named, is more optimistic. "Everybody is so negative about it, but we should be positive that we are still able to smoke weed. It's the only country in the world where we are able to smoke (marijuana) and we should be happy about it."
He breaks off to serve some customers - enthusiastic Americans in their 20s. He talks them through the varieties of pot enclosed in a glass-topped box on the counter. The box's lid is opaque, until you press a button to illuminate it - this is to get around laws prohibiting advertising of marijuana.
On display are varieties including Space Cream, described as giving you an "active and happy" high, and White Widow, which the sommelier says is "heavy and stays with you for a few hours".
He insists his business will not suffer from the tobacco ban but mutters darkly about bad press recently.
"What does tobacco do for the people anyway? Except damage. Tobacco makes people paranoid. Marijuana makes people have fun."
Indeed, the ill-effects of tobacco are indisputable, but the evidence on marijuana is more mixed. In a 2007 study rating the harmfulness of illicit drugs, published in The Lancet medical journal, cannabis was classed in the group of drugs that do the least harm. The most harmful were heroin and cocaine. Tobacco and alcohol were in the top 10.
Inhaling cannabis smoke can cause cancer, but at lower rates than tobacco. Some evidence shows THC, the active chemical in marijuana, may even have a protective effect against cancer.
More serious are its effects on mental health. Another Lancet study, published last July, showed cannabis users have a 41% greater risk of psychosis. This risk increases if there is a genetic predisposition to psychiatric illness.
Nonetheless, the perception remains among most Dutch that marijuana is harmless.
Mark Robson, a 27-year-old Englishman who works at the Pimpelmee Cafe in Amsterdam's red-light district, laughs at the irony of the ban on tobacco.
Since July 1, he has noticed more people getting sick from smoking pot, he says.
"The tourists come here and then they are out cold, because they're smoking pure joints."
He predicts the tobacco ban will "kill the culture.
"We had a cafe culture here," he says. "It was one of the main themes and focal points of Dutch culture. This is a place for people to come to chill out, and smoke, both weed and tobacco."
Newshawk: JohnnyPotSmoker: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: The Age (Australia)
Copyright: 2008 Fairfax Digital
Contact: Contact Us - The Age
Website: Joint not the same since the Dutch banned tobacco | theage.com.au
