Amersterdam Closing Many Marijuana Cafes

[Ferre]

Originally Posted by spacefem

it sounds nice but i don't totally get it. wouldn't it just be easier to vote? then your government wouldn't be wasting time trying to enforce laws that aren't realistic.

Nope, it would not be "easyer" to vote. It would be giving up the impasse which Dutch governments find themselves in to replace it with a system that has more power over them and that's is the very reason why people don't vote in the first place.

They DID vote against the EU dictatorship enabling "constitution", reason why the Christians and socialists didn't let them vote again when this constitution was re-worded and brought into the EU the second time.

See, in the current political system one can only vote on people one does not want to be representing them, it's a loose-loose situation for voters either way you look at it (unless you're a christian or a socialist) and with not giving one's vote away to some corrupted sleazeball who will turn around and stab one in the back one keeps his right to his own political voice, in the case of Dutch people, this voice is expressed quite effectively I'd say. We have more personal freedom than anyone else in the world and our society works well. This voice is visible when you visit the Netherlands, it's visible in the freedom of choice for people in their daily lives, it's visible in the respect for the police force towards citizens you don't find anywhere else in the world and many more advantages for "we, the people" in many different aspects of society which we would not have when the bureaucrats could have it their way...like we see happening in the rest of the world where personal freedoms are more and more stripped by political bureaucrats from left, right and middle...at the end of the day it are all politicians.

[homebizseo]

Is marijuana use high in your country?

[Atom]

Originally Posted by homebizseo

Is marijuana use high in your country?

Who are you addressing, Homebiz?

[homebizseo]

Originally Posted by Atom

Who are you addressing, Homebiz?

Ferre,



Is drug use higher where it is somewhat legal such as Amsterdam

[Ferre]

Originally Posted by homebizseo

Ferre,



Is drug use higher where it is somewhat legal such as Amsterdam

The Netherlands has lower drug use statistics and lower drug addiction statistics compared to most other western democracies with tougher drug laws. It also has lower crime and AIDS rates. (http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/67)

The argument used by prohibition advocates all over the world that legal access to drugs leads to more drug use by the population is proven in the Netherlands to be just as bullcrap as all the rest of their arguments in favour of the drug war.

[homebizseo]

Originally Posted by Ferre

The Netherlands has lower drug use statistics and lower drug addiction statistics compared to most other western democracies with tougher drug laws. It also has lower crime and AIDS rates. (http://drugwarfacts.org/cms/?q=node/67)

The argument used by prohibition advocates all over the world that legal access to drugs leads to more drug use by the population is proven in the Netherlands to be just as bullcrap as all the rest of their arguments in favour of the drug war.

Do you know how many people are locked up for drug crimes per capita? I have often though using taxes may be a better deterrent than tougher laws.

[webcosmo]

we are having all those Kiosks in California now. soon we would have weed shops here as well

[RichDev]

It sounds nice but i don't totally get it.

[SVB]

They are doing this in the UK now too. "Head shops" i.e. shops that sell paraphernalia, cannabis seeds etc that are within something like 200m of a school are going to have to close. But just like in Amsterdam this is just talk. And it could simply be a case of reopening elsewhere. On this point too, I am going to Amsterdam very soon, should be fun!

[bobby_valentino]

noooo

those bastards!

some of my best times were spent on the main strip

[bobby_valentino]

i can't believe this is happening!

[Ferre]

Originally Posted by bobby_valentino

i can't believe this is happening!

It's NOT happening.

It's put in the freezer like all other drugs laws people massively ignore in this country.

Every few years there's a new call for closing down coffeeshops from our religious politicians, every time the foreign newspapers pick it up and give those poor sobs their 15 minutes of fame but at the end of the day they have to deal with the Dutch people to get their proposals into law and enforced. That's where their delusional balloon usually pops and are set back into reality.

[Ferre]

If you care do do some reading into the research yourself dWhite, you will find that the research has found that cannabis does not induce violence. You will find that research also shows that cannabis users who commit violent acts usually have a history of violence before they start using the drug.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl...ch&btnG=Search

[gggorosin22]

yep..cannabis is a source for enhancing your relaxation and be at a happy place. so how would you be violence mode when it brings you happiness and great joy.

[blazintech]

I dont use drugs... and i think Amersterdam will get positive things from closing those shops.

[Ferre]

Originally Posted by blazintech

I dont use drugs... and i think Amersterdam will get positive things from closing those shops.

It's not happening, the Netherlands is a democracy and the majority is against prohibition.

Apart from that, please explain? What sort of "positive things" will Amsterdam get from closing those shops?

Also, don't forget that Amsterdam is only one city in the Netherlands and about all Duch cities have coffeeshops.

I personally know of a couple of Dutch cities where they should need the army to close their shops, it's just not going to happen.

To give you guys a little first hand information about how things work down here; Last year the Christian parties proposed a law that made it illegal for police officers to smoke weed in private, when they are off duty.

Next thing that happened was the police union opposing this law, and all the political opposition opposed that law too, for reasons that it violated the right to privacy, one of the constitutional rights for all Dutch citizens, including those who happen to be police officers.

The law was not accepted.

BTW, drug tests are illegal down here for the same reason, they violate privacy laws.

[babbelon]

I agree 100% with the late ferre that making anything illegal (drugs, prostitution or otherwise) makes it more attractive! People like what they can't have so give it to them and they'll give it back!

Me on the other hand.. I like Mary J. (Marijuana) and I am happily married to her. Even if the cost goes up I'll never divorce her!!

[rabble]

I don't know.
I do remember back in the early 70s we had this stuff - PinkF#@k - going around the underground market that was presented as tabbed THC.
I don't remember getting 2high on it, but ... I did have some friends who claimed they were.

[babbelon]

lol it was probably a low count tab and it may have been cut too much with the binding compound (whatever that might have been)