Smoking Ban 'Could Kill Off Amsterdam Cannabis Coffee Shops'

[Jim Finnel]

New laws similar to those which took effect in England last summer, will ban the smoking of tobacco - but not cannabis - in enclosed public places in the Netherlands from July 1.

Critics say the change will encourage users to turn to much stronger forms of the drug.

Users will still be able to light up joints filled with pure cannabis but technically banned from mixing in tobacco.

The owners of the country's "coffee shops", where cannabis is available over the counter, campaigned for an exception.

But the Dutch prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende was quoted last week as explaining: "Coffee shops will be treated in the same manner as other catering businesses.

"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."

Some cafes have built separate areas for those who chose not to inhale pure cannabis in the same way as pubs and restaurants in Britain set up outdoor smoking sections in the run-up to the ban in this country.

Many Amsterdam cafe owners fear being driven out of business. But Mark Jacobsen of BCD, a cafe traders' association, told the German newspaper Der Spiegel: "If an official comes into a coffee shop and sees someone smoking a joint, he must confiscate it and send it to a lab to test whether it contains tobacco.

"It is such an arduous procedure that it is going to create numerous problems.

"I don't think they will apply it very strictly during the first year."


News Hawk: User: 420 MAGAZINE ® - Medical Marijuana Publication & Social Networking
Source: Telegraph.uk
Copyright: 2008 Telegraph
Contact: https://www.telegraph.
Website: Smoking ban 'could kill off Amsterdam cannabis coffee shops' - Telegraph

 

[Damagoman]

Kinky Freeman says it our(USA's) fault(the Smoking Bans in Europe).
He was only the Bill O'Riely show, as I was flippin' through, last night.

I tend to agree.
Just another liberty, Gone.

 

[bill704]

If I own a business, I want to be able to control what goes on inside.

Business owners are the real victims here, but don't worry... Big brother will probably be invading home owners' rights soon enough.

Why did I ever pick up smoking? In 90 days PA's going to be smoke free. Gone are the days of enjoying a cup of coffee and a smoke at a diner. :-/

 

[Jim Finnel]

it seems sorta hypocritical for people to look down on you for smoking while shoveling fried foods, sugars, coffee etc. into their pie holes. i would bet more people die from their diets and food served in cafes than they do from second hand smoke, if anyone really dies from second hand smoke at all. its just totally stupid. people will set in sidewalk cafes with traffic spewing its poison but if you light up......

did you ever see the south park episode about rob reiner coming to town to stop smokers all while stuffing his face? hillarious

 

[bill704]

Very good point, User. I see aggressive "Truth" ads all the time, yet no obesity ads that attack rather than inform. I'm a fan of those "ex" commercials, as well as the "Passing gas" ones, because they are merely communicating with the smoker, not putting them down.

So I don't get too off topic here, I'll mention the aggressiveness we see in "Above the influence" towards marijuana. I don't see many, if any, commercials concerning prescription drug abuse, her*in, or coc*in.

 

[Jimbo]

My God...where did all this bleeding heart shit get started anyway?
I am sick to death of these people trying to "save us from ourselves"...where do they get off telling me how to live my life, as if they really care about my well being!!!
These people need to look at their own lives and re-evaluate whether or not they are qualified to judge others.
I'll bet these same people have overweight kids that just sit around all day playing video games and eating cereal covered with sugar frosting.

Next to the government, These people will be one of the biggest obstacles in our quest for cannabis legalization.

Have y'all ever heard Bucky Covington's song called "A different world" where he talks about the way things were back in the day? He makes the point that we didn't wear bike helmets or seat belts and in the first line of the song it goes "we were born to mothers who smoked and drank"...another line says "still here we are...still here we are"...I get teared up every time I here that, because I was there, and then you here of crap like this...Jesus, where did we go wrong!!!