41–50 of 147 posts
I thought all drugs were legal in Amsterdam and Portugal?
1. Amsterdam is a city, not a country 2. Legalization =/= Decriminalization (for Portugal)
@ umvi: weed usage is tolerated on the consumer-side in The Netherlands, by law it is illegal.
> Schneider said the legislation was likely to include a ban on non-residents buying cannabis in order to dissuade drug-tourism. Given the fact they're sharing a border with France: probably a good idea.
Canada shares a border with the USA (where persecution of cannabis use is a billion-dollar profitable industry) and has made no effort to dissuide cannabis tourism. On the contrary: we welcome it it open doors.
Well good for you, but as someone who lives in the centre of Amsterdam I can understand the motivation to discourage drug tourism.
Edit: to clarify it's not the reams of tourists getting high in coffee shops that I have a problem with, but the knock-on effects of it. Tourists treat the city like an adult themepark and recently the city council have been taking steps to address these problems.
I thought all drugs were legal in Amsterdam and Portugal?
Consumption is legal, sale is not. That's what "decriminalization" usually describes, as opposed to "legalization" Edit: but sale of cannabis is legal in the NL, under some conditions.
In short you have (making these terms up):
1. Growers who produce and distribute the weed,
2. Runners who pick it up and bring it to the coffeeshop,
3. Coffeeshops
It's only legal for the coffeeshops to sell.
This sometimes devolves to a game like tag. The runners need to go as fast to the coffeeshop as possible in the most stealthy way. If the police catch them, then they are in trouble. However, if they bring it into the coffeeshop, they are safe.
Disclaimer: I am very biased here, I think this whole system is idiotic. The Netherlands should legalize weed. They have two economic incentives (1) weed tax and (2) sustained tourism.
[1] https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/drugs/gedoogbeleid-... - official source
[2] https://www.jellinek.nl/informatie-over-alcohol-drugs/cannab... - some talkshow source but explains it quite well
The dominoes fall, one by one. The upside is that the wealth from legal cannabis sales will now flow through to the rich white men where it belongs rather than to the minority folk who dominate the black market.
The poor minority folks leading organized crime.
Finally some sanity coming to good old Europe. Instead of making (rather big) part of the population automatically criminals, state 1) gets revenue (directly taxing plus new jobs); 2) can monitor usage, set maximum potency, strains, etc (good enough for most users); 3) takes significant revenue from proper criminals, local and worldwide; 4) makes various medical products more available. Everybody, apart from organize…
A rather big part of the population smokes weed? What?
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annual_cannabis_use_by_country
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The poor minority folks leading organized crime.
If their crimes are predicated upon a law which is no longer seen as justifiable, it's almost like they weren't doing anything bad at all.
Finally some sanity coming to good old Europe. Instead of making (rather big) part of the population automatically criminals, state 1) gets revenue (directly taxing plus new jobs); 2) can monitor usage, set maximum potency, strains, etc (good enough for most users); 3) takes significant revenue from proper criminals, local and worldwide; 4) makes various medical products more available. Everybody, apart from organize…
The alcohol industry might also lose.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Consumption is legal, sale is not. That's what "decriminalization" usually describes, as opposed to "legalization" Edit: but sale of cannabis is legal in the NL, under some conditions.
No it's not. It's illegal by law [1, 2] (Dutch sources). The supply chain is definitely still illegal. In short you have (making these terms up): 1. Growers who produce and distribute the weed, 2. Runners who pick it up and bring it to the coffeeshop, 3. Coffeeshops It's only legal for the coffeeshops to sell. This sometimes devolves to a game like tag. The runners need to go as fast to the coffeeshop as possible in…
(3) professional agriculture can start producing high quality cannabis in greenhouses instead of the often dangerous attic setups with stolen electricity. (although people do get very creative! https://nltimes.nl/2016/07/22/cannabis-farm-found-eindhoven-...)