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Smoking to be banned in Amsterdam coffee shops
Smoking is to be banned in Amsterdam's famous coffee shops where cannabis is sold without fear of prosecution.
Under a new public smoking ban, coffee shops will still be able to sell joints but customers may have to go outside to smoke them.
Holland's new national health guidelines, due to take effect from the start of next year, were aimed at second-hand smoke from tobacco, not marijuana.
But they are also threatening the liberal Dutch drugs policy which attracts tourists from all over the world.
"The whole point of going to a coffee shop is to smoke," complained Arjan Roskam, chairman of the Union for Cannabis Retailers.
The head of the Dutch anti-smoking lobby, Clean Air Now, conceded that banning smoking in coffee shops was not the goal.
But Willem van den Oetelaar still backed the move. "It's not our priority, but it is a good thing," he said.
The Netherlands boasts around 800 cannabis cafés, the first of which was opened in 1972. The sale of marijuana remains officially illegal in the Netherlands, but its use has been decriminalised.
Story filed: 10:30 Thursday 29th May 2003
In '04, the Dutch will toke it outside
AMSTERDAM - To the chagrin of Dutch pot lovers - and the tourists who fly to Holland to toke legally - a new ban on smoking in public places will include the coffee shops that sell marijuana.
The shops still will be allowed to sell joints, but customers will have to step outside to fire up.
"They've got to be out of their minds," laughed Annemiek van Royan, a regular at the Kashmir Lounge in west Amsterdam. "The best part is coming here to relax. It makes my day."
Like New York, the Netherlands recently approved a smoking ban. It will become law in most public places in January.
News Wire Services
Ban threat to Dutch cannabis cafes
One of the Netherlands' most popular attractions, cannabis-selling cafes, face an uncertain future under a planned new law banning smoking in public places.
 They've got to be out of their minds
Annemiek van Royan, coffee shop patron
The outlets, which draw millions of tourists each year, allow patrons to buy marijuana over the counter and openly smoke joints without fear of arrest.
Under the new regulations, the cafes, known as "coffee shops", will still be able to sell soft drugs but customers may have to indulge elsewhere.
Coffee shop owners say they are aghast at the prospect.
"The whole point of going to a coffee shop is to smoke," said Arjan Roskam, chairman of the Union for Cannabis Retailers.
Neon signs
The new legislation aims to protect employees from passive smoking, and while coffee shops are not the intended target, all companies with staff will be affected.
Pot-smokers are dazed by the proposed law
Coffee shops have been operating in the Netherlands since 1972 and there are now more than 800 such establishments.
Easily distinguishable from more regular cafes by their gloomy exteriors and green neon signs, the cannabis cafes provide menus offering a wide variety of hashish and marijuana.
Although cannabis is formally illegal in Holland, authorities turn a blind eye to its sale and use in controlled environments.
Patrons have reacted to the new law with alarm.
"They've got to be out of their minds," said Annemiek van Royan, a regular smoker in the Kashmir Lounge coffee shop.
"I bought a joint for now and a little more for later at home. The best part is coming here to relax. It makes my day!"
The new law, which is due to be approved by the government soon, will come into effect next January.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/2946460.stm
Published: 2003/05/29 12:53:12 GMT
© BBC MMIII
Dutch Ban on Smoking Hits Pot Businesses
By ANTHONY DEUTSCH
Associated Press Writer
May 29, 2003, 7:49 AM EDT
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- The latest news from the mecca of marijuana users is a real mindblower. Under a new ban on smoking in public places, Dutch coffee shops would be allowed to continue selling joints, but customers would have to go outside to smoke them.
To the chagrin of the owners of the country's popular marijuana smoking establishments, broad national health guidelines due to take effect next January seem to have inadvertently struck at the heart of the liberal Dutch drug policy.
The law to ban smoking in public places is targeted at tobacco users, not marijuana smokers, and has met fierce resistance from eating and drinking establishments.
Those businesses argued the tobacco smoking prohibition would result in the loss of 50,000 jobs and $1.5 billion in revenues annually. So the industry -- as well as coffee shops which sell marijuana -- has been granted a one-year extension until January 2005.
Regardless, opponents say the ban will drive smoking customers at regular bars and cafes -- about one in three of the Dutch smoke tobacco -- across the borders to Germany and Belgium where it would still be allowed.
The first coffee shop selling marijuana and hashish opened in the Netherlands in 1972 and they now number more than 800 countrywide. Growers and sellers compete in annual taste-testing competitions in Amsterdam, where millions of tourists a year sample the vast varieties advertised on menus.
Besides selling small quantities of what the Dutch call "soft-drugs," many coffee shops also offer patrons comfortable couches, fresh fruit juices and board games. Alcohol is generally forbidden.
Reactions in Dutch coffee shops ranged from utter amazement to concern about what will happen to the three-decade-old tradition in Amsterdam of social pot smoking.
"They've got to be out of their minds," laughed Annemiek van Royan, a regular at the "Kashmir Lounge" coffee shop in West Amsterdam. Lighting up a joint of Dutch "skunk weed," she said she comes every day to hang out and talk with other visitors who can lean back on colorful embroidered cushions and puff away.
"I bought a joint for now and a little more for later at home. The best part is coming here to relax. It makes my day," she said, asking the dealer jokingly if he was going to start selling hash cake.
"Cake is so strong, it's too dangerous. People never know how much to eat," said Johan de Vries, the bartender at the Kashmir Lounge. He suggested building a heated outdoor terrace to get around the new law.
Health Ministry spokesman Bas Kuik said the law was not intended to target coffee shops, and -- as in all public areas -- they could have designated smoking areas.
The sale of marijuana is officially illegal, but its use has been decriminalized. Authorities allow the coffee shops to operate under strict guidelines as a way of exerting some control over behavior that they argue would happen anyway. Studies show that use of such drugs is no greater in the Netherlands than in countries where its is banned.
Even the head of the anti-smoking lobby Clean Air Now, Willem van den Oetelaar, conceded that banning pot smoking in coffee shops had not been the intended purpose of the campaign to stop public smoking. But he still backed the move. "It's not our priority, but it is a good thing," he said.
Van den Oetelaar said the organization's telephone hot line had received more than 2,000 complaints about smoking in public places since October -- but not one complaint about a coffee shop.
Copyright © 2003, The Associated Press
And now some GOOD NEWS
Smoking Ban Goes to Pot
A new ban on smoking in public places in the Netherlands seems to have inadvertently struck at the heart of the country's popular marijuana-smoking establishments as well.
Under broad national health guidelines due to take effect officially in January, Dutch coffee shops would be allowed to continue selling joints, but customers would have to go outside to smoke them.
The law to ban smoking in public places has met fierce resistance from eating and drinking establishments. So the industry - as well as coffee shops that sell marijuana - has been granted an extension until January 2005.
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