Amsterdam without marijuana

Those were the years of the Flower Power Revolution of 1968, when university students from around the world were about to change the world with poetic slogans and fine sand beaches (supposedly) that were hiding under the urban paving. The air of freedom (the soul) were mixed with the smoke of cannabis and other more powerful hallucinogens . All drugs were tolerated in the private Western sector (with their restrictions by country) but most are prohibited worldwide, that rose a slogan and as a trademark of rebellious youth who, to date, is reaching a comfortable and conservative retirement.

 

So we´re talking about the mid-seventies of the last century, Holland pointed to a legal break in terms of what soft drugs are concerned and allowed the sale in some stores, thus throughout the country, the boom of the Coffee-shop starts. With this measure, the capital of Holland, one of the most cultured and educated in the world, became a favorite destination for those travelers in search of freedom: sex (remember its flagship the Red Light District, but we shall leave that for another day) alcohol and marijuana.

In these dark CoffeeShop in Amsterdam you could acquire, in all possible ways, superb quality soft drugs for personal use and “on the spot”. This has meant that, in these last thirty years, these places, even if marginal, have become an institution and no traveler passing through Amsterdam, even those who do not use marijuana or do not even smoke, has not  stopped in a coffeeshop to “smell” their peculiar atmosphere of permissiveness and freedom. Also cult films like “Pulp Fiction” by Quentin Tarantino, one way or another, have tried this “peculiarity” to his scripts

Well, it seems that the attraction of CoffeeShops for foreign visitors has come to an end, because the national government seems to tackle the illegal trade that swarmed around these famous joints, it has tightened the requirements in this types of transactions. It has not banned the sale of marijuana to foreigners, as discussed in the forums , but the coffeeshops across the Netherlands, which, of course, include Amsterdam, are forced to become private clubs (in the manner of the Spanish smoking clubs who have not had any success) with a maximum of 1500 members. That is, CoffeeShop can and will continue to sell cannabis, but only to its members, as might be expected, through the customer file, which in some way or another, is controlled by the government. Although, with it, is to lay siege to trading at lower cost and illegal dealing on the streets, the effects of the measure are still being evaluated. Today, they also are packing some restriction to access the famous Red Light District, another libertarian insignia of Amsterdam.