No smoking in Dutch cafés?

May 29, 2003 9:05 AM

Threat of ban to Dutch cannabis cafés...
It'd be like an airplane without wings! Surely the whole point of buying some weed at these places is to smoke it on the premises?
posted by tomcosgrave (7 comments total)

It looks like this is a ban on all second-hand smoke (California-style) nominally to protect employees. Maybe they could all get patios? Amsterdam has absolutely beautiful weather late into the night during the tourist season. Maybe they could commission a slanted BS study that shows that 2nd hand grass isnt' harmful and get an exception.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly at 9:24 AM on May 29, 2003

i'm sure the number one health concern of people forced to slave all day in cannabis dens is second hand cannabis smoke. maybe once this problem is handled some progressive country will take on the problem of all that filthy money oil barons have to put up with.
posted by quonsar at 9:35 AM on May 29, 2003

Buried lede: A Dutch health ministry spokesman, Bas Kuik said the coffee shops could have designated smoking areas.
posted by dhartung at 11:24 AM on May 29, 2003

i'm sure the number one health concern of people forced to slave all day in cannabis dens is second hand cannabis smoke.

Ever heard the expression "too much of a good thing". There's still loads of tar and carcinogens in the smoke and, personally, I couldn't work if I was stoned (when I used to smoke the stuff).
posted by Dark Messiah at 11:47 AM on May 29, 2003

This legislation is actually a product of combined pressure from the Bush and Bloomberg administrations. The United States is alarmed that the permissive Dutch attitude towards marijuana usage sends an alarming message to 6 year old american children that smoking pot while drinking coffee is OK. Because this might lead them to become terrorists and blow up the empire state building while undergoing chemotherapy for exposure to second hand smoke, all the might of the Western world must be brought to bear on the homeland of the evil Goldmember.
posted by PigAlien at 3:29 PM on May 29, 2003

I went to Amsterdam only a couple of weeks ago. One of our party scored some weed, and we sat outside (still technically in a bar) and smoked it. The only difference this legislation is going to make is that you can roll your joint in a bar, but you will have to stand outside to smoke it. This is exactly what happens already in all of Amsterdam's bars which aren't designated as "coffee shops".

Of course, Amsterdam wouldn't be half as popular if Amsterdam's legal system was exported to the rest of Europe.
posted by salmacis at 4:33 PM on May 29, 2003

Think they're really going to throw away all that tourist money?
posted by walrus at 2:17 AM on May 30, 2003