Strange how it was known as the place where you could smoke or buy weed at coffee shops for years before the US was anywhere close and it’s still not legal there. I suppose it’s still not federally legal in the US either though.
The Netherlands is far less progressive than people think it is. Tolerating something is not the same as condoning or accepting it.
No one who knows the Netherlands was surprised by Wilders winning a lot of votes in the last election. No one who knows the Netherlands is surprised that it's taken this long to even think about legalising weed.
Just to make things clear, it breaks down like this - it's legal to buy it, it's legal to own it, and if you're the proprietor of a hash bar, it's legal to sell it.
Naw, I want real legalization like in Canada (BC in particular). Flying domestically with cannabis is a legally protected right in Canada. And public consumption is permitted anywhere tobacco use is. None of this 'in the privacy of your own home' bullshit that makes it impossible for tourists to technically consume legally.
Maybe in time Las Vegas will have a well labelled designated cannabis smoking area right at the airport terminal like they have in Vancouver. And like, come on, it's Vegas...of all the places that should be able to pull something like that off in the USA, you'd think it would be Vegas.
And public consumption is permitted anywhere tobacco use is
This is so important. I live in WA state USA. You can't legally smoke cannabis outside. It continues to make cannabis consumption illegal for many people.
I completely agree with you. However in Europe both existing and planned regulations that I am aware of are far away from that. You won’t find a dispensary offering similar selections like in the US anywhere, not even in Amsterdam. The overdue regulation update mentioned in the post won’t change that unfortunately.
“Historic moment,” said the health minister, Ernst Kuipers, on Friday as he scanned the first box of legal cannabis in the Baron coffee shop in the southern city of Breda.
In fact, the drug exists in a legal grey area, which the government hopes to stub out with the four-year trial starting in Breda and nearby Tilburg.
The consumption of small quantities of cannabis is illegal but police choose not to enforce the law as part of a “tolerance” policy that has been in place since the 1970s.
This has led to gang involvement, with a related rise in petty crime and antisocial behaviour that officials hope to stop if the trial is successful.
“The product will be clean, tested, pesticide-free,” said Ashwin Matai, the cultivation director at Holland High farm, which will supply coffee shops legally from February.
One unknown surrounding the planned policy is the Geert Wilders factor, whose far-right Party for Freedom won 37 seats in the general election last month.
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It is against the law to grow marijuana and cannabis plants. In cases where no more than 5 plants are grown for personal consumption, the police will generally only seize the plants. If more than 5 plants are found, the Public Prosecution Service will prosecute.