Pot Smoking Coffee Shops in Amsterdam, “Up in Smoke”

Say it isn’t so. You will no longer be allowed to smoke pot, weed, marijuana, cannabis in Amsterdam’s renowned coffee shops. What a tragedy, what is this world coming to when one can’t bring their bong and some herb into a Amsterdam coffee shop? Europe, you are slipping. No smoking bans sound more like American, up-tight values that you have been espousing. What’s net in Amsterdam, a crack down on prostitution? NOT!

A Dutch smoking ban will come into force in July next year for all restaurants and cafes — including coffee shops where cannabis is the top attraction, the government decided on Friday.

“Coffee shops will be treated in the same manner as other catering businesses. They will be smoke-free,” Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende told NOS television.

Amsterdam’s renowned coffee shops, where marijuana can be smoked openly in a relaxed atmosphere, are one of the city’s big draws for tourists. (Yahoo News)