NationStates Jolt Archive

AMSTERDAM — Eight Dutch cities near the German and Belgian borders will introduce a membership card for soft drugs users in an attempt to fight drugs tourism, they said on Tuesday.

"Coffee shops have to refocus on their original policy: small-scale sale of grass for the own population," said a spokesman for the southern city of Maastricht, which is one of the cities participating in the project.

Although such drugs are officially banned in the Netherlands, coffee shops sell small quantities of marijuana, making them popular venues for tourists and locals alike.

The card, dubbed the "grasspass", allows people to buy a maximum amount of three grams of soft drugs. People will have to register for the pass and the cities hope that drug daytrippers will be discouraged by the extra bureaucracy.

Read More >> (https://admin.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/may/12/090512dutch-grass-pass/?world&zIndex=98067)

I don't think it will help a lot. With a little help of their friends, they will arrive with MORE people. If I would have my live in the Beaulieu of Paris or Rheims and have the need for a drug trip to Holland, I just would invite some non-using friends.

I wouldn't be surprised if that was the idea...make it look like an attempt to placate the nanny-staters while simultaneously driving up tourist volume. Talk about a good plan.

In my opinion, this is the main reason why Canada won't legalise marijuana. We would be swamped with US tourists who would then try to smuggle it back to the USA, and get caught because they're idiot stoners, and it would be a Big Deal.

Not to mention the obvious Montreal grow-op, smuggle through the Mohawk reserve, sell in New York connection. That would be another Big Deal.

I wonder if it's like Capital One cards and you can customize your own passes? Especially on the pictures. Pot Leaf, Cheech and Chong (classical), Grateful Dead...

In my opinion, this is the main reason why Canada won't legalise marijuana. We would be swamped with US tourists who would then try to smuggle it back to the USA, and get caught because they're idiot stoners, and it would be a Big Deal.

Not to mention the obvious Montreal grow-op, smuggle through the Mohawk reserve, sell in New York connection. That would be another Big Deal.

Well the war on drugs is a big deal for the US. It's a massive industry.

If it was shut down millions of petty thugs would be on the street with no hope of employment.

Well the war on drugs is a big deal for the US. It's a massive industry.

If it was shut down millions of petty thugs would be on the street with no hope of employment.

They can find jobs other than being police officers.

is it just me or is the Netherlands fazing out Marijuana more and more these days?

either way when those Dutch roll out of bed at about 4pm tomorrow you can bet they will be getting all paranoid and shit about government ID cards

I don't think it will help a lot. With a little help of their friends, they will arrive with MORE people. If I would have my live in the Beaulieu of Paris or Rheims and have the need for a drug trip to Holland, I just would invite some non-using friends.

Sounds more like a publicity stunt...

They can find jobs other than being police officers.

Haha...funny :rolleyes:

Ya' get a speeding ticket last saturday?

They can find jobs other than being police officers.
Galloism say:

That's insulting and demeaning to people who put their lives on the line for grossly inadequate pay in order to help maintain law and order. It is true that there are some bad apples, just like any profession, but the vast majority are good people who are just trying to make their community, their county, their state, their country a better place.

Face it: imagine what any country, let alone the US, would be like if there were no police. These guys that you insult and demean and wish they would find "other jobs."

is it just me or is the Netherlands fazing out Marijuana more and more these days?

either way when those Dutch roll out of bed at about 4pm tomorrow you can bet they will be getting all paranoid and shit about government ID cards

There are several reasons for:

* The majority of the current government is conservative
* Society is noticing that drug related crimes are not lowered the last 30 years
* The nuisance created by coffee shops is exploding.
* Belgium, Germany and France are complaining about the very liberal drug policies. Their citizens cause troubles in their country of origin.

The intentions of the ID system is to make it foreigners difficult to get their weed. It are them who are creating the most nuisance. But I don't think it will work out. Getting cheap weed in a safe environment is more difficult in their own country, so they still will come to the Netherlands.

Galloism say:

That's insulting and demeaning to people who put their lives on the line for grossly inadequate pay in order to help maintain law and order. It is true that there are some bad apples, just like any profession, but the vast majority are good people who are just trying to make their community, their county, their state, their country a better place.

Face it: imagine what any country, let alone the US, would be like if there were no police. These guys that you insult and demean and wish they would find "other jobs."

I'd like to see some statistics backing up (either way) what the "vast majority" of police are like. Because an emotional statement or one person's personal experience doesn't mean much.

I'd like to see some statistics backing up (either way) what the "vast majority" of police are like. Because an emotional statement or one person's personal experience doesn't mean much.

I think also that the majority of the policemen and women are doing a very good job in the western world. They are a very thin shell between you and an insane world.

I trust them more than politicians and CEO's.

There are several reasons for:

* The majority of the current government is conservative
* Society is noticing that drug related crimes are not lowered the last 30 years
* The nuisance created by coffee shops is exploding.
* Belgium, Germany and France are complaining about the very liberal drug policies. Their citizens cause troubles in their country of origin.

The intentions of the ID system is to make it foreigners difficult to get their weed. It are them who are creating the most nuisance. But I don't think it will work out. Getting cheap weed in a safe environment is more difficult in their own country, so they still will come to the Netherlands.
And god forbid their own countries let them get weed safely without crossing the border.
I think also that the majority of the policemen and women are doing a very good job in the western world. They are a very thin shell between you and an insane world.

I trust them more than politicians and CEO's.

How arbitrary a bias.

And god forbid their own countries let them get weed safely without crossing the border.

All countries have the right to arrange their own laws like they want. Some are needed in one country, while the same laws doesn't make sense in another. It's the context and political relevancy that dictates this.

Some things could be excellent for you, but are maybe a disadvantage for a significant share of a sudden population. If you don't like the laws of your country you can vote for other politicians, move to another country or you can always start one on your own. (like Sealand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand))


How arbitrary a bias.

Sure.

I'd like to see some statistics backing up (either way) what the "vast majority" of police are like. Because an emotional statement or one person's personal experience doesn't mean much.

Well, you can simply ask yourself how many police you see charged with serious crimes. I will admit, there's a few. That's why Internal Affairs exists - to catch those few.

However, internal affairs departments are localized, so I don't know of any grand country-wide figures or statistics published. Sorry Jack.

Galloism say:

That's insulting and demeaning to people who put their lives on the line for grossly inadequate pay in order to help maintain law and order. It is true that there are some bad apples, just like any profession, but the vast majority are good people who are just trying to make their community, their county, their state, their country a better place.

Face it: imagine what any country, let alone the US, would be like if there were no police. These guys that you insult and demean and wish they would find "other jobs."

What's with the 'Galloism say' bullshit?

Anyways, there have been reports of police sytematically abusing drug users (http://www.songandsilence.com/2009/03/police_abuse_of.php).

Sixty-two percent of those interviewed reported experiencing physical abuse by the police. These incidents included beating of the feet, hands, chest, and head by officers using their hands, fists, and boots. In addition, several subjects said that police had beaten them with pistol butts, folded chairs, or blackjacks, and one reported being beaten with a wrench and the flat side of a metal saw. Others reported being burned with cigarettes or given some form of electrical shock. One subject said that police stabbed him with a hypodermic needle that broke off in his skin. Six percent of those interviewed reported sexual harassment or abuse, including inappropriate touching of women during street searches by male police officers.

According to the interview subjects, police abused IDUs for two reasons—to coerce a confession, or to extort bribes.

Many health workers feel that the current amount of violence that cops visit on intravenous drug users is part of the problem (http://www.soros.org/initiatives/health/focus/ihrd/news/bangkok_20071024), rather than part of the solution. This is a problem in developing nations, as my previous links show, but also in North American cities like Vancouver (http://www.hrw.org/en/node/12330/section/5).

But if you wish to continue believing in the inherent honour of the Thin Blue Line, go ahead. Personally, I would prefer to end the War on Drugs that gives license to cops to randomly strip search black people on the street.

On the night of April 12 a little before midnight, two Human Rights Watch researchers and a number of other onlookers witnessed the strip search of an African Canadian man on Hastings Street, a main thoroughfare, not far from the intersection of Hastings and Main, the heart of the Downtown Eastside. We were unable to see under what circumstances the man had been detained, but he was displayed publicly with his pants around his ankles, the headlights of a police car shining on him, his hands behind him in handcuffs. A police officer told passers-by that the police had used pepper spray[62] to subdue the man and that "he was being non-compliant"; he was "a threat to our safety." The man vomited as he sat handcuffed with his pants down in full public view. There were seven police officers milling around him, including two women officers. Two of the male officers were wearing latex gloves.

The Supreme Court of Canada has described strip searches as "a significant invasion of privacy" and "often a humiliating, degrading and traumatic experience for individuals subject to them.[63] Accordingly, the court has urged that strip searches only be conducted by officers of the same gender as the individual being searched. In addition, strip searches must be conducted at a police station unless there is a demonstrated necessity and urgency to search for weapons or objects that could be used to threaten someone's safety.

Now, I didn't address your idea that I was somehow claiming that we should get rid of all police officers, but that's because I didn't make that claim.

All countries have the right to arrange their own laws like they want. Some are needed in one country, while the same laws doesn't make sense in another. It's the context and political relevancy that dictates this.
If a country's citizens are going abroad to legally and safely buy weed then clearly its relevant.

Some things could be excellent for you, but are maybe a disadvantage for a significant share of a sudden population. If you don't like the laws of your country you can vote for other politicians, move to another country or you can always start one on your own. (like Sealand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Sealand))
Start my own country? That's nigh impossible these days. And Sealand is for sale.



Sure.
So do you have any reasons for thinking police officers are more trustworthy than politicians or CEOs?
What's with the 'Galloism say' bullshit?

Easier than actually switching accounts, I guess.

What's with the 'Galloism say' bullshit?

He was using my account. The bullshit remark was, really, unnecessary.:rolleyes:

Why on earth would anyone try to discourage drug tourism? Don't they like money?