A Discussion About Coffee Shops In Amsterdam

In Amsterdam, the term coffee shop has come to mean a place where hashish and marijuana are available. A visit to the Netherlands from the extreme prohibitionist world outside can be a very instructive experience. It's completely wrong for us to assume that this Dutch country is not civilized. It's not that Holland is run by a bunch of hippies; it's just that they have a more rational attitude to facts-of-life like drugs and prostitution.

There are many different kinds of coffee shops in Amsterdam: some are relaxed, some are vivid with psychedelic interior decoration or noisy music. Since people around enjoy, any aggression is not accepted. Also, it is not favorable just to hang around -coffee, soft drinks and snacks are generally available, only few of the Amsterdam coffee shops have an alcohol license. You can smoke from your own bag; but you do have to buy something to sit there. Some general rules which the Amsterdam coffee shop owners expect you to follow are:

Minimum age 18 years, identification required. You cannot have alcohol and hard drugs in the coffee shops. In some of the coffee shops, you are not allowed to use your mobile phones. No hanging around the coffee shop, you need to buy something at the coffee shop. Each coffees hop offers several kinds of weed and hash; usually there is a menu to choose from. The prices vary according to the quality (about 5 EUR per gram). You can always ask the staff for the strength and the general effect of the hash. You may also ask for a pipe, rolling papers and filter-tips.

Amsterdam coffee shops are not allowed to advertise, so you will not see a big sign saying "Marijuana for Sale". If you don't see a dealer's booth, just go up to the bar and ask to see the 'menu'. You will be presented with a list of the various different grasses and hashes available at a range of prices. In some shops cannabis is sold by weight, in others by value. Where it is sold by weight the prices are per gram. There are 28 grams in an ounce. Where it is sold by value, the menu will show the quantity, in grams, that you'll get of each variety for a fixed price of, say, 20 euros.

A brief history of Amsterdam coffee shops : The coffee shop phenomenon began in the early 1970's. Even then, the Netherlands realized that the war on drugs was lost and that they had to find a way of reducing the impact of drugs on their society. To that end, they sought to draw a clear line between hard and soft drugs and concentrated their law enforcement effort on hard drugs. Those involved in smuggling and trading heroin and cocaine were to be hunted down and prosecuted; those addicted to heroin were to be treated as sick, like alcoholics; and those in possession of cannabis were to be, virtually, ignored.

1980 saw the beginning of the 'tolerance' policy towards coffee shops. So long as there were never any hard drugs on the premises and they were reasonably discreet, they were generally left alone. Since then coffee shops have spread across Amsterdam and into most parts of the Netherlands. Initially, most Dutch people disapproved of coffee shops. Over time attitudes have softened and they are now widely accepted but the Netherlands is subject to constant international pressure from less enlightened governments like those in France, UK and US.

By the 1990's Amsterdam considered that it had too many coffee shops and that some were selling hard drugs. Encouraged by international pressure they decided that drastic action was required. At the same time, some of the better coffee shops were organizing themselves into a union, the BCD.

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