English
For over forty years, the city of Amsterdam has been at the front of the most liberal laws on drug consumption and the sex market. Without doubt, it´s an important option to consider if you´re travelling around Europe and you´re looking for a place where you can lose your inhibitions and have a good time. Further than just fun, of course, is the condition that a city can possess liberal laws of this type that, for one, have a better control on drug consumption and prostitution. This way, the quality of the drugs that are consumed can be controlled better by small markets inside the city itself, and the sexual workers can access better rights and services, as well as better security.
The new law that bans tourists buying marihuana was presented in June 2011. At first, this law tries to go further than just reduce the consumption of marihuana in Amsterdam, it tries to stop many tourists buying drugs in the city and transporting it to other cities in the European Union. It´s known that a high number of tourists that go to Amsterdam are looking for what we can call ´drug tourism´, and it´s a recurrent financial income for the community. The effects of a resolution of this type can certainly affect the city´s economy and the hundreds of stores that work as coffee shops.
How to achieve this type of restriction? Easy. A card or an ID for the use of drugs in the famous coffee shops would only be available for the citizens of Amsterdam. Only this way would one have access to the legal purchase of marihuana. This law came into force in early 2012 and, as it is to be expected, will affect over 200 coffee shops in beautiful Amsterdam. What will the future hold for these places? It´s difficult to say, although we can imagine what it´s going to be if we take a look at how the economic crisis is affecting the whole of the European Union.
Laws like this one aren´t just ways to control the transit of people in this region and, consequently, the reduction of the flux of social and cultural exchange in this city, which is also a meeting point of many nationalities due to its cosmopolitan nature. The demonization of drug consumption is on the table again.
Adequate consumption of drugs can mean that the consumers can access better quality drugs as well as services related to them and, in the same way, it could dissolve the recurrent mafias and markets behind the buying and selling of these. The great question would then be that, with these laws, what will our friend Snoop Dogg do when he visits Amsterdam again?
Get apartments in Amsterdam and see its beautiful coffee shops and districts. The city will also trap you with its diverse cultural life, museums and galleries. Don´t miss out on going to Amsterdam, it will fascinate you.
