Cannabis smoke 'here to stay'

[jabez]

Cannabis smoke 'here to stay'

 

By Sabine Fiedler in Amsterdam

 

COULD a smoking ban spell the end of Amsterdam's world famous coffee shops, where smoking cannabis is one of the main attractions?

 

No chance, says local conservative politician and coffee shop owner Michael Veling.

 

The Dutch may well follow other European countries in banning tobacco smoking in restaurants, cafes and bars, but Veling says it should still be possible to smoke dope.

 

"It is ridiculous to think that a smoking ban would be the end of coffee shops," the 50-year-old Veling says.

 

TOBACCO BAN WON’T CLOSE THE JOINT

He says the clientele who have been coming to coffee shops to buy and inhale cannabis are flexible enough to find a way around any ban on smoking the tobacco products they routinely mix with marijuana resin or leaf in rolled paper "joints."

 

"You can bring parsley or old socks if you want, cut them here and smoke them, nobody will say anything," Veling said.

 

"Plus there are plants that have a very similar structure to tobacco and can maybe substitute for it."

 

A tobacco smoking ban, which could come into force at the start of 2008, may also boost the use of some of the weirder contraptions used for inhaling the active part of marijuana, THC, which gives users a high.

 

"Nearly all of our American customers do that anyway, using pipes or the "volcano,"" Veling says in his dark, cosy coffee shop, pointing to a shiny, cone-shaped silver contraption.

 

The volcano or vaporizer heats cannabis to release vapours of THC and channels these into a long transparent balloon.

 

At the counter, a dark-haired man waits to get the air from the balloon into his lungs. Using the volcano makes cannabis consumption cheaper, Veling explains, because the drug can be used several times and is not burned like in a pipe.

 

"On good days, when the shop is full of Americans, we sell 100 or 200 of these balloons," Veling says.

 

TOLERANCE ON THE ROLL

But most European customers of his "De Kuil" in central Amsterdam prefer to roll their marijuana with tobacco into joints, Veling admits.

 

One of them is Czech-born, Swiss resident Pavel Kotrba, sitting near the entrance with a broad smile and dilated pupils.

 

If a ban came into force, he says: "I would smoke my joint on the street in front of the coffee shop, no problem."

 

Soft drugs are legally banned in the Netherlands but under a policy of "tolerance," buyers are allowed to have less than 5 g of cannabis in their possession.

 

Government-regulated coffee shops sell cannabis and can keep stocks of up to 500 g.

 

Coffee shops first sprung up in the Netherlands in the 70s and have been drawing tourists ever since.

 

So far the majority of Dutch parliamentarians have urged that the coffee shops be exempt from any smoking ban, but a more sweeping Europe-wide ban might be introduced.

 

Unlike many of his colleagues in the soft drug retail business, Veling, who is also speaker of the Dutch Cannabis Retailers organization, does not consider the ban a danger to the industry which he estimates rolls in more than 1 billion euros ($1.36 billion) a year.

 

Most of the more than 700 coffee shops in the Netherlands would not even be affected by it anyway, he says, as they resemble cannabis drive-ins, where people queue in front of counters, buy and leave.

 

"Some of these shops are huge and generate sales of approximately five million euros a year," he says.

 

Plus recent legislation banning the sale of both alcohol and cannabis together in coffee shops doesn't seem to have irked his customers too much.

 

"They smoke more, that's my impression."

 

http://www.news.com.au/travel/story/0,2348...from=public_rss

[Nattefrost]

Wouldn't second hand cannabis smoke be significantly less harmful than second hand tobacco smoke?

[WantDaChronic]

i think a tobbacco smoking ban in amsterdam would be great in some ways, but messed up in others. eg. it will force people to use vapes, make cookies, etc. so people will be consuming their herb in healthier ways, but not being able to roll a joint or sit down to a bong in a coffee shop would suck balls

[Budman2012]

I agree with the coffee shop owner politician guy .. I doubt theres too much to worry about in Amsterdam about Cannabis smoking laws

But surely the actual Coffee shops (ones that don't sell dope) would suffer the tobacco smoking laws even more greatly .. as I understand it smoking tobacco is quite popular in the Netherlands

 

The ban is just for certain public premisis from what it sounds like , similar to what they are trying to implement in Australia .. and look how well thats worked

I understand not being able to smoke inside and around food and other diners .. that is entirely reasonable .. but as for Pubs I think It ridiculous ..

 

Was about 6 months ago that NSW started banning smoking in pubs , they start with having a smokers section then in a bout 6 months from now they wan't to make it a complete ban from what I understand ...

But even now there are concealed smoking rooms being built here and there .. preparing for the new laws .. but as far as outdoor Beer gardens and the like go .. i doubt they will be banning smoking outside for a while yet .. So I guess I can still enjoy a glass of beer and a smoke for now outside is fine.

 

The funniest thing is , is that they ban smoking in street cafes .. and all the while cars are driving past spewing out tonnes of poisonous gases lmfao , fools.

 

Anyway .. Amsterdam has pretty much paved the way for drug tolerence laws .. lets hope it doesn't slip in the future , and that more countries will adopt a similar stance

 

Happy Smoking Everyone

 

Budman