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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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Dutch smoking ban threatens 'coffee shops' Joan Clements The Telegraph Friday 30 May 2003 Proposed anti-smoking laws are threatening one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Netherlands: the coffee shop, where you can smoke a "joint" chosen from the menu and not bother with the coffee. The government has grudgingly tolerated the coffee shops for years and now sees a way to put them out of business without appearing to do so. Campaigners regard the proposed legislation as a clever way to hold on to liberal credentials while ridding the Netherlands of the embarrassing perception that it is the soft drugs centre of Europe. The first shot was fired this week when the government promised to introduce strict, American-style anti-smoking bans in all "public entertainment areas", including discos, restaurants, bars and coffee shops, by 2005. Forces Netherlands, the Dutch branch of a international pro-smokers' organisation, says the ban will throw 50,000 bar and restaurant workers out of work. The anti-drugs element of the proposals was disclosed when a codicil was added, threatening that coffee shops would be forced to abide by the legislation 12 months before other businesses. Reaction from the freedom-loving yet often moralistic coffee shop owners has been immediate. Anton Roskam, the chairman of the Organisation for Cannabis Retailers, described the proposed legislation as "an outrage". He said: "An obvious solution would be to have our employees sign a contract saying that they do not want to work in a smoke-free area." There are several thousand coffee shops all over the country. The ones best known to thousands of British visitors who visit the Netherlands at weekends are mainly in Amsterdam. "It is like saying you cannot serve rice in a Chinese restaurant," said Ari Hogenhorst, owner of the Penguin Coffee Shop in Arnhem. He suggested that the drugs could be sold through hatches and smoked in a separate room. "Unfortunately, hatches in coffee shops are against the law in Arnhem. We can only serve our soft drugs across the counter, so we will have to change this law first." Another solution was offered by the Upstairs Coffee Shop, also in Arnhem. The owner, who did not wish to be named, said: "We can set up a special fan that will waft a range of marijuana fumes through the premises. Customers can then sit back and enjoy without actually smoking." The owner of Sence, possibly the oldest coffee shop in the country, said he "was shocked and surprised" by the proposed legislation. "What are we coming to in this country?" he said. His innovative solutions included reducing drugs to the consistency of crumbs and adding them to hot chocolate, resulting in a "comforting and uplifting drink". The crumbs could also be sprinkled over fried eggs, which would be a hit with the "full English breakfast" visitors to Amsterdam.
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