Dutch to ban tourists from buying pot

[Union Label]

This FUCKING SUCKS, its always been a hope of mine to be able to travel to a country that values freedoms and rights of others without shitty conditions.
I've been in a funk for almost a year being broke and having a minor health care issue and now another dream is shattered.:mad:

The Dutch government said on Wednesday it wanted to ban tourists from buying cannabis in "coffee shops," where hash is on sale legally, as part of a national crackdown on drug use.

The Netherlands has one of Europe's most liberal soft drug policies and its coffee shops are a popular tourist attraction, especially in Amsterdam and border cities near Belgium and Germany.

But some cities near the border with Belgium have clamped down on drug tourism, and the Dutch minister for security and justice confirmed on Wednesday a wider crackdown after coalition parties agreed to push for a ban in September.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40238429/ns/travel-news/?gt1=43001

[Xipe Totec]

1. We're about to find out what the driving force behind Dutch tourism is nt

[Union Label]

13. I just got off the phone with my sister and she thinks the same thing

nt

[Initech]

14. Yup, I'm betting this lasts long.

[musette_sf]

17. It ain't tulips and chocolate, or

[Xipe Totec]

30. You got that right! nt

[LynneSin]

2. That's going to kill tourism in the Netherlands

Seriously, it's the main reason people travel to Belgium in the first place.

[maxsolomon]

3. WANTED to - has not done so. yet.

it's an odd sensation to twist up joints and smoke them riding a bike along the canals. it feels like... freedom.

the coffee shops will find a way around this.

[marmar]

4. Yep. I get the feeling this measure will 'go up in smoke'

:smoke:

[Barack_America]

5. But tourists will still be able to buy women?

Drug tourism = bad

Prostitution tourism = perfectly acceptable


Nice. :eyes:

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

7. They aren't keen on that either,

Though held up as a model by libertarians, the Dutch are growing extremely fed up with the externalities of their drug and prostitution policies. As you might imagine drug and sex tourists aren't the nicest bunch of people.

[Union Label]

9. My sister went around 10 years ago

and she said it was the best, nice people and weed were everywhere.

[marmar]

10. Still are. Amsterdam is awesome.

[krispos42]

18. Better than violent drug gangs and disease-ridden hookers with abuse pimps.

Besides, once the other nations in Europe chill out, less tourism will be going there.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

21. They have those too...

The really ugly side of the sex trade in Western Europe is virtually all the prostitutes were trafficked for that purpose, and those gangs that traffick women are pretty fucking violent.

It is the funniest thing, just because prostitution is legal doesn't mean there are any significant number of Dutch women who wish the be prostitutes.

Great system they have there, rather than treating it as a sex crimes issue it is generally treated as an illegal immigration issue where the victims are unceremoniously deported without any consequences to the people who smuggled and enslaved them.

[seabeyond]

29. thank you for honesty sen. people tooting legalized prostitution ignore the facts.

over and over and over. even when shown the facts.

criminal element still in sex trade
harder to prosecute the criminal element.
increase in child and sex slavery
not enough prostitutes to meet demand

[seabeyond]

28. from what i read, legalizing prostitution hasnt worked so well either, and looking

to do something about that , too.

[marmar]

6. delete, intended as OP

[Bennyboy]

8. So many of my friends go there just for the shops

I don't know why but they go to Amsterdam for the beers and the weed. Funny too cuz they live in Calif and we almost as legal.

[joeybee12]

11. in related news, Dutch no longer have any tourists visiting...nt

[Kennah]

12. Canada could be a viable replacement

I mean the availability of pharmaceuticals is already a big draw, but add pot and hookers and Canada is gonna have the #1 economy.

[The Straight Story]

15. Heck, in the US you cannot even smoke a Cig in a bar, let alone pot

And if you don't like it you are called a libertarian :)

[Warren DeMontague]

22. You should ask the 50 million American pot smokers if they would be okay with being able to buy it

in most 7-11s, liquor and grocery stores--- legal, regulated and taxed for consenting adults--- and to smoke it legally in the privacy of their own homes, or in public outdoor spaces, or outside bars, restaurants, etc. on the sidewalk- as opposed to (as it is, now, in most states) being considered criminals and risking arrest for mere possession...



...OR if that same set of circumstances would prompt them to have a giant temper tantrum, like some cigarette smokers.

[Rage for Order]

16. Will people go there for the balmy whether and delectable cuisine instead?

I kid the Dutch. I love a cold, oily herring sandwhich for breakfast on a dreary February morning!

:*

[AlabamaLibrul]

19. UPDATE: Netherlands bans tourists from coffeeshops. Sensing a business opportunity.......

Snoop Dogg has seceded from the United States to form a new nation within Los Angeles County.

[TheKentuckian]

20. In the news today, dumbasses introduce plan to reduce tourism while fueling the black market

You just can't fix stupid.

[Codeine]

23. Amsterdam is a beautiful city replete with culture and heritage.

Reducing it to a giant cannabis market is doing it a disservice. Plenty of reasons to go even without weed.

The Dutch have obviously gotten sick of dealing with the nonsense of being viewed simply as a hash house.

[JCMach1]

24. Yeah but there are many cities in the area more interesting to the casual

tourist...

This is going to hurt Amsterdam badly.

With a family, Amsterdam has two strikes. One, it is kind of boring. Two, it is hella expensive compared to Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg.

[Codeine]

25. Which is ultimately why I expect this idea to fail.

But as someone who is neither a weed nor sex tourist who really loved Amsterdam I always get a bit disappointed when people view it as nothing more than a place to get hash in coffee shops. It's such a great city!

[JCMach1]

27. That's true... it is interesting in and of itself...

But, if it moves away from those other things, the competition gets rather stiff.

Keep in mind that it is a quick trip down to Paris on the high speed trains.

[JVS]

26. Their tourism industry will collapse. Why do they think people show up?

It's not to eat the fucking pancakes.