I was just in the Netherlands researching the new edition of my guidebook on Amsterdam and getting up-to-date on the “coffeeshop” (i.e., marijuana) scene. Regardless of how you might hate or love marijuana and what you think about American laws, it’s fun to try to understand the Dutch system. Here’s what I learned just last week.
When tourists call an ambulance after smoking too much pot, Dutch medics just say, “Drink something sweet and walk it off.” Amsterdam, Europe’s counterculture mecca, thinks the concept of a “victimless crime” is a contradiction in terms. Drive under the influence of anything and you’re toast. Heroin and cocaine are strictly illegal in the Netherlands, and the police stringently enforce laws prohibiting their sale and use. But, while hard drugs are definitely out, marijuana causes about as much excitement as a bottle of beer.
Throughout the Netherlands, you’ll see “coffeeshops” — pubs selling marijuana, with display cases showing various joints or baggies for sale. The minimum age for purchase is 18, and coffeeshops can sell up to five grams of marijuana per person per day.
Because of laws prohibiting the advertising of marijuana, you need to take the initiative and ask to see the menu. In some places, there’s actually a button you must push and hold down to see the menu illuminated. And the menu looks like the inventory of a drug bust.
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| Americans with no reason for paranoia play hide and seek in an Amsterdam coffeeshop. Enlarge photo |
The big news on the coffeeshop scene is the new nationwide smoking ban. These laws pertain to tobacco smoke, but not marijuana smoke. But the Dutch, like the rest of Europe, mix their marijuana with tobacco. It might seem strange to an American, but if a coffeeshop is busted…it’s busted for tobacco. Shops are mixing a kind of herbal tea as a tobacco substitute for joints. Coffeeshops with a few outdoor seats have a huge advantage, as their local customers can light up outside. And shops without the outdoor option are in for an extra challenge, as many local smokers would rather get their pot “to go” than smoke it without tobacco at their neighborhood coffeeshop.
Pre-rolled joints are now sold pure, with the non-tobacco “hamburger helper” herb mix, and with tobacco. The pure marijuana joints are much easier to buy now than just a year ago. Some shops sell individual joints (€2-5, or about $3-7.50). Others sell only small packs of three or four joints. Shops sell marijuana and hash in pre-rolled joints and in little baggies. Shops have loaner bongs and “smoke-free” inhalers, and dispense cigarette-rolling papers like toothpicks.
While Dutch law allows for shops to keep an inventory of up to 500 grams, the wholesale dimension is the famous “grey area” in the law. It’s just left out of the equation. Most shops get their inventory from the pot equivalent of home brewers or microbrewers. Shops with better “boutique suppliers” get the reputation for having better-quality weed (and regularly winning the annual Cannabis Cup). The tax authorities don’t want to see more than 500 grams (about a pound) on the books at the end of each accounting cycle, and shops lose their license when found with too much in stock.
A shop could retail a ton of pot with no problem, as long as it maintains that tiny stock and refills it as needed. Amsterdam’s mayor, understanding that this just has the city busy with small-time deliveries, has proposed doubling the allowable inventory level. The reason the inventory level is kept so small: They want shops to stay small and not become bases for exportation. Providing pot to neighboring countries would bring more international pressure on the Netherlands to crack down on its coffeeshop culture.
The other legal trend is that licenses are not being renewed in some neighborhoods as the city wants to maintain a certain smattering of shops and not have too big a concentration in any one area.
The Dutch are not necessarily pro-marijuana, but they do believe that a prohibition on marijuana would cause more problems than it solves. Statistics support the Dutch belief that their system works. They have fewer hard drug problems than other countries. And they believe America’s policy is based on fear, misinformation, and electoral politics, rather than rationality. And, after a 10-year track record, the Dutch have found that their drug policy does not result in more pot smoking. Statistically, Americans smoke twice as much pot as the Dutch (per capita).