LOADING RESULTS ... 
The Smoking ban is more or less a dead issue now a days.
Five years on and with the smoking Rooms in all coffeeshops this more or less solved the problem.
We have had no further developments from the city council so far so the war is over for the time being.
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January 2013
Here we are in 2013 and everything in the Amsterdam coffee shop scene is as it was. Nothing has changed and tourists are still welcome to buy and smoke weed in any of the capital's coffee shops. According to the mayor Eberhard van der Laan, the police will turn a blind eye and in a letter to the currect government he writes "It has been decided that Amsterdam law enforcement authorities will not attach any priority to enforcing the local residence requirement."
So smoke smoke and be merry, for the renowned Dutch tolerance has again been victorious.
December 2012
It looks as if the ban on tourists smoking in Amsterdam coffeeshops will not be implemented in January 2013. With both the city's mayor and the coffee shops themselves declaring their intentions not to enforce the ban, tourists will remain welcome to buy weed and with Lonley Planet listing Amsterdam as second in the list of the world's hottest destinations for 2013, next year will be a bumper year for the city and the coffee shops.
October 2012
The latest volley of shots in the tourist weed smoking ban debate was fired last week
between the minister for justice Ivo Opstelten and the Amsterdam Mayor but there is still no agreement on the question of whether foreign visitors will be allowed to buy weed in Amsterdam coffeeshops.
The Weed Pass policy introduced last year by the conservative government who lost power in September has been diluted but not completely abandoned by the newly elected administration , however a statement by Mayor Eberhard van der Laan last week that tourists would remain welcome in Amsterdam coffeeshops was quickly rebutted by the justice minister saying that there was no guarantee the law would change to accommodate Amsterdam city council's concerns.
The tourist ban is due to be implemented in the entire country from 1 January 2013 but following a not so successful 6 month trial period in the south
of the country where it has led to increased crime and street dealing , opinion is that the Amsterdam city council , overwhelmingly against the ban will
do whatever it can to stop it being introduced in the city. Watch this space!
June 2012
Well the ban is now in place in the boarder cities but reports are that the coffeeshops are refusing to operate the pass scheme which is great news.
Police have visited the shops, informing them they will be closed down for a month if they do not operate within the new law.
Amsterdam is next on the list from January 1st 2013. All the coffeeshops here say they will just ignore the silly law. Even better news is that the
conservative government collapsed last week so it is likely that a new government will abandon the introduction of the new law after elections are held
in September. Fingers crossed.
The Mayor of Amsterdam, Eberhard van der Laan is totally against the ban as he says as much as 70% of tourists visit Amsterdam to smoke and visit a coffeeshop. The
ban will most likely hurt anything tourist related including all the hotels and museums most of which depend on the huge amount of tourists who visit Amsterdam each year.
Bans of any sort do not work as we have seen over the years. Banning anything just makes it go underground and same will happen once again in
Amsterdam. It is like going backwards in time. Amsterdam is indeed changing and not for the better.
The Coffee shop owners are bringing a case against the ban, but will most likely loose, the say they intend taking it all the way to the European Court on the basis that the Dutch should not be allowed to discriminate against people on the basis of where they live. We will see what happens.
The moves are part of a tougher approach to drugs introduced by the coalition conservative-led government, elected 18 months ago. Recently the government reclassified so called strong cannabis as a hard drug, after recent reports that it has a psychotic effect on some users. The opposite is happening in the UK where last month the
government reclassified cannabis down to class C a much more sensible approach.
Recent protest against the Weed pas
December 2011
Tourist smoking ban latest
The ban on tourists buying weed, which was due to be implemented in the Southern part of the Netherlands in January, has now been postponed until May 2012, at the request of many of the local councils.
The cannabis coffee shops in Limburg ,Noord-Brabant,and Zeeland now have until May to become clubs for members only.
It is planned to introduce the system nationwide in 2013.
Watch this space!
November 2011
Tourist Smoking Ban
Latest News about Tourist Smoking Ban November 2011
The Weed pass is expected to be introduced in the south of the country in January 2012.
There are no plans at present to introduce it in Amsterdam as the majority of the city council is against its implementation.
So fear not, come on over and smoke your heads off!
August 2010
August Thursday 19th to Monday 23rd 2010. The tall Ships arrive back in Amsterdam after 4 years. If you have not seen theses amazing ships this is a perfect place to view them and go inside and explore them.
One of our Amsterdam houseboats / ships ( Amsterdam Ark ) actually takes part in the tall ships and is available to rent during the event.But at Euro 70.000 for the three nights (up to 30 guests). its not cheap.
You do get to go sailing with the other tall ships for full three days with all food and drink included so it's a once in a life time.
August 2010
Amsterdam is getting ready for this years gay pride festival and the city is hopping with excitement, every apartment, hotel room and every other accommodation place is booked. Looks like its going to be some weekend.
August 7th
Bummer , the weather has been awful all day. Rain, rain and more rain. This will put a real damper on the river parade. Usually 500.000 people turn out to watch but I cannot see it happening this year. Usually this weekend is hot, hot, hot in every way.
Latest news on Mushrooms is you cannot really get fresh ones but there are alternatives available
January 2010
A little bit of news to start the New Year off.
Things seem to have settled down in the coffeeshop business, for most its business as usual. Some shops have built sealed off rooms (inside the shop) where the staff have no access so cannot inhale second hand smoke. Some have just ignored the whole thing and carried on as if there was no smoking ban, so its not all bad news.
A recent court case came down in favour of owners who have NO staff and who smoke themselves . Court ruled thats they are allowed to smoke in their own premises and so are customers. This has been appealed by the government.
Mushrooms (certain types) are also available and several new Mushroom shops have opened up or reopened.
Amsterdam has started the New Year very well, business wise, with most apartments receiving a good supply of reservations. November / December were bad months in the accommodation business but New Year and now January being busy, things are looking up.
After all, what other city can offer its visitors, sex, drugs and rock and roll all within a few minutes walk of each other.
January 2009
Well here we are another new year and another years news to tell.
First off , Mushrooms seem to be still on sale in several shops. Several of our spy have reported back after having tried to get some magic into their lives and were successful but one or two places said they no onger had any as "all the growers had been closed down". Several signs have appeared in windows reporting " Fresh mushrooms arrive today", so there is still hope.
We have not heard any news about the Mushroom growers and shops getting together to stop the government bringing in the ban. Rumors had it that they were bringing a case to court to get an injuction to stop law being passed after they proved the girl who killed herself, did so without magic mushrooms.
Will let you know as soon as we do hear anything on the mushrrom front.
Latest nonsense from Amsterdam city council is they are trying to force the Cassa Rossa (sex club) to stop feeding the ducks and swans. Yes , you've read it correctly,
The Cassa Rossa for years have had wooden landing boards outside on the canal , which allows ducks and swans to get out of the water .
At 6pm daily they feed the birds which makes for a great sight. Forty swans and as many ducks gather round for the great feed.
This has become quite an attraction in it's own right and tourists and locals alike stand and watch .
But the city council is not happy,
So the fight is on.
The Cassa Rossa seem also to have lost their famous giant penis fountain . Looks like the city council didn't like that either!
Amsterdam Tobacco Smoking Ban -- July 2008 -- Smokers Against Discrimination
The smoking ban on cigarettes will come into effect on July 1st 2008. This now includes coffeeshops.
Will it be the case that it will be legal to smoke cannabis but illegal to smoke tobacco in a coffeeshop?.
Most people are unsure what the result will be but the law states that when buying cannabis, the customer must be able to purchase it in a smoke free zone. So it sounds like shops will have to build a wall cutting the shop and creating a booth separate from the main shop to create a make a smoke free zone, smaller coffeeshops will more than likely have to close down.
May 2008
The count down to the smoking ban is drawing near, July 1st. No one really knows what is going to happen with the coffeeshops. Mushrooms are to be banned also.
October 2008
Several coffeeshops have now opened tobacco smoking rooms in their shops. Rumors are that there is going to be a major crack down on the coffeeshops who are still letting tobacco be smoked on the premises.
November 12th
News just in. Magic Mushrooms to be banned from December 1st 2008.
We have just read that mushrooms dried as well as fresh are be be banned from December 1st 2008.
This is a another nail in the coffin for Amsterdam and will mean all the head / smart shops will close down as their business is 95% mushrooms.
Also rumors are going around that all coffeeshops licences will be withdrawn by 2010. If this happens it will be the final nail in the coffin. Bye Bye Amsterdam it was nice knowing you.
A bar on Nieuwmarkt square has a banner hanging outside saying.
In a few years Amsterdam will be a ghost town
No redlight district.
No smoking in bars
No coffeeshops
How far will the city council go?
December 2008
In the last year half the red-light district has been closed down and just last week Magic Mushrooms were banned following a number of cases of foreign tourists behaving insanely or needing medical help after taking mushrooms and the suicide of a 17 year old girl who threw herself off the Nemo building here in Amsterdam,
2007
The following was issued Friday October 19th 2007
Your attention for the following , Pim en Marko have started an action against the leader of the Central Amsterdam city council , Els Iping,a very scary person is out to destroy the last bit of Amsterdam freedom.
The plan of Iping and her followers ,would set Amsterdam back 15 years and virtually close the city center down as a place to eat drink and be merry. Oh yes you still could do these things but only in the way that Els Iping wants them to be enjoyed. For example... Even stricter closing times, less special outdoor events, Bed & Breakfasts stopped, 150 terraces to close and the Red Light District taken out of the Center
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