Amsterdam - Losing its Edge

Amsterdam will become a different place when the new laws come into effect here bringing an end to drug tourism in Amsterdam. Soon coffee shops will become members clubs but this doesn't mean those visiting can't take or enjoy smoking pot openly. It just means it is likely to push the sales onto the streets where 'members' will buy marijuana or hashish on your behalf, after all, in the Netherlands you are allowed to have a small quantity for personal use, and the police don't check you for it, meaning it is still tolerated. However the shift seems to be to try and sell Amsterdam more than just a drug holiday, which it rightly deserves.

In many ways Amsterdam can look flashy on the  outside than what really what happens behind those doors. Perhaps it needs a bit of updating or restoring to get back in shape and back on the scene as a destination. It appeared to me on this visit that the coffeeshop experience hasn't changed in more than 20 years since I first visited, appearing rather old and worn. What it really needs is an injection and a new way of making that 'experience' really something unique.

Amsterdam seems to have lost its edge. Once a modern looking and adaptive city, inventive and updated, I noticed a shortfall of adapting to a modern world with poor connectivity to a frequent traveller. Perhaps all that pot has made locals dream too much and do too little.

Hotels and coffeeshops offer no reliable WIFI, and as most travellers know, this is increasingly important. The lack of connecting with the outside is rather difficult, as if one has something to hide when the world already knows what happens inside. We're in the 21st century and for a city I once looked on as being forward thinking now came across as stale and out of touch.

Even as I walked around the flower markets and tried to film the exotic plants and flowers I was soon told to 'stop filming' by the shop keeper, even after I explained it was to be featured in Joe Journeys. I was stopped  on the street and requested to 'delete' some footage I had taken of the shop front while they inspected  and watched on as I went to camera menus to remove the short clip. Even when I asked for permission to film inside Coffeeshop 36 they were apprehensive, explaining not to film people, even if I would seek permission to do so. After a short discussion it was decided it was best not record anything at all.

What was once an open liberal culture has become closed and conservative. If this is a direction that the Netherlands wants to go it won't make me want to reconsider another visit. After all in a growing competitive tourism market there are other places in the world that are becoming more tolerant, though of course there is so much more to Amsterdam than red lights and coffeeshops, it just seems that instead of moving forward it appears to be going into the dark ages.

Humphrey's Restaurant - Amsterdam

When in Amsterdam I can't resist a return visit to my favourite place to eat and dine, Humphrey's Restaurant. Offering a 3 course fixed price meal with a selection of starter, main and desert that changes with what is in season.  Drinks are not included in the price, but for the quality and amount of food you get, it is a great value.

As if the meal isn't enough, a  fresh loaf of bread served on a wood cutting board along with two flavoured butters gets placed on the table for sharing. The bread is so delicious this alone could be a nice meal, but don't overfill as this is just part of the starter and you'll have much more to come.

After walking around the streets and canals, exploring the red light district, flower markets, museums, or after your visit at a coffeeshop and your suddenly feeling hungry, any visit to Amsterdam requires a visit to Humphrey's Restaurant.

Amsterdam - End of Drug Tourism?

The days of visiting Amsterdam for the joy of openly smoking and using recreational drugs could soon come to an end after new Dutch legislation threatens the drug tourism. The present right-wing coalition government is pushing to restrict the operations of the coffee shops and to prohibit the sale of the drugs to nonresidents.

If the first phase is successful in the court challenge, as of May 1 2012, coffee shops in three southern provinces are to be turned into members-only clubs, limited to 2,000 Dutch clients each. They are to maintain a registry and check IDs. Coffee shops who break the law will face criminal prosecution. The rest of the country’s coffee shops are to follow suit on Jan. 1, 2013.

Nearly a quarter  of more than four million foreign tourists a year visit its coffee shops where the sale of small quantities of cannabis are tolerated. The sale of marijuana and hashish  is not legal, but a longstanding policy of tolerance  means that licensed coffee shop operators are not prosecuted as long as they deal in limited quantities and keep hard drugs and minors out. The Dutch are also allowed to cultivate up to five marijuana plants each for their personal use.

A drug tolerance policy reduces the harm caused by prohibition, in part by separating the markets for hard drugs like heroin from the market for marijuana, and by getting cannabis dealers off the street and into a regulated environment.

Almost all of the hashish sold in the coffee shops is imported, illegally, from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lebanon and Morocco. The government would begin treating high-potency marijuana as a hard drug, like heroin and cocaine, prohibiting its sale in coffee shops.

There are those in Parliament who worry that the change will bring a return to street dealing and the crime that accompanies it. Others argue that the Netherlands, which is struggling to reduce its budget deficit, cannot afford to alienate tourists.

Coffee shop owners have so far failed in court to overturn the ban on sales to foreigners, but another lawsuit is being brought by the Cannabis Retailers Association, which represents the country’s 680 coffee shops. It should be heard in the next few weeks.

Let's not forget there is so much more to  Amsterdam  than Coffeeshops, but taking away the privilege for a little high on a visit, would take away something that  Amsterdam  has always tolerated, and tourists know about around the world.

Source: 
The New York Times - Law Could Hamper Drug Tourism
Government of Netherlands - Tightening of tolerance criteria for coffeeshops
Government of Netherlands - High-potency cannabis reclassified as hard drug