First time was on the 14th floor in hospital balcony, didnt feel anything ( it was california skunk ). Second time destroyed and that was pollum, a hash.
You can smoke weed in public anywhere in the netherlands, you cant drink beer in public. Just go stand next to a cop vehicle and light it up and see what happens ( they cant bust you or confiscate your herbs ). If you pull open a sixpack you will be asked to put it away and throw away the open ones. Some clubs allow you to smoke and some will kick you out, but you'll notice when you get in. No club can confiscate your weed @ security, just dont smoke hehe.
The policy on the soft drug trafficing is illegal but coffeeshops are recognised for selling weed, hash and relating artefects. They have a limit to what a shop may contain, they'll be checked ad random for an exceeding total amount. In return the authorities wont check the "backdoor", but if a runner/supplier gets caught on the freeway with 500gr of weed to deliver he'll get a small fine and the gear confiscated. Farming weed is also illegal, even if its sole purpose is to provide a shop with gear. On domestic grounds you're allowed to grow 4 plants ( no matter the size ), which used to be legally 49 sometime ago. They're also not allowed to sell under 18 ( duh ), if so, a shop can be fined starting from 500 euro's. Yourself are allowed to carry either 5gr of weed/hash, if you have more than you're considered a "dealer" and will be fined for drug trafficing.
Now from a government point of view, we're shrinking under US pressure. Our dutch policy has worked pretty good but is not tolerated by other governments. Since the Netherlands commenced close contacts with the US it seems they're adapting to not only globalisation but also some of their political perspectives, only to come in good favor. There's a financial consequence to it since registered coffeeshops pay nasty taxes. If they'd completly wipe out coffeeshops it will grow illegal again, increasing criminal activities and much worse, miss out on all the lucrative tax. This is a very big drug economie, the only one in the world, and to get taxed. I remember a documentary on cocaine where this dude issued a situation " What if drugs suddenly got on the stockmarket ? ", the consequences would impact the whole global market. Well, it feeds well overhere on a small scale but the business behind it is huge but less criminal intended. Shops are having a hard time though.
We're also measured the highest amounts of thc a gram, hehe. It's really not that bad, nothing statistics can point out anyway. One reason we cant sell abroad if it was legal, we can and do sell seeds internationaly (
www.sensiseeds.com ) hehe.
There are also smartshops to be found, in lesser amount than coffeeshops. They sell any kind of mushrooms, peyote, natural xtc, ephedra, herbal power drinks, afrodesiacs and lots of new drugs, herbal or not, but mostly are organic drugs and not synthetic.
And another thing, you tourist probably smoke the worst crap in A'dam and charge you with rediculous prices. Mostly any town in the netherlands has a shop, which will give you more, better and cheaper stuff than 70% of the shops in A'dam centre. If you really want the good shit you should check out the shops just outside ( outer rings ) the center of A'dam. Else you be ripped and left with crap. On the other hand, I've seen foreign people practicly eating without having the faintest idea what they were smoking. They'll like spent an hour rolling 3 joints in numerous attempts and smoke it all in short time to be waisted for the rest of the day. So it might be good starting off nice n ez to get that subtle high instead of a deathblow.
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