Amsterdam to close many brothels, marijuana cafes

[user_1919]

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — Amsterdam unveiled plans Saturday to close up to half of the famed brothels and marijuana cafes in its ancient city center as part of a major cleanup operation.

The city says it wants to drive organized crime out of the district, and is targeting businesses that "generate criminality," including prostitution, gambling parlors, "smart shops" that sell herbal treatments, head shops and "coffee shops" where marijuana is sold openly.

"I think that the new reality will be more in line with our image as a tolerant and crazy place, rather than a free zone for criminals" said alderman Lodewijk Asscher, one of the main proponents of the plan.

The city said it would also reduce the number of business it sees as related to the "decay" of the center, including peep shows, sex theaters, sex shops, mini supermarkets, massage parlors and souvenir shops.

The city said there were too many of these and it believes some are used for money-laundering by drug dealers and the human traffickers who supply many of the city's prostitutes.

Asscher underlined that the city will remain true to its freewheeling reputation.

"It'll be a place with 200 windows (for prostitutes) and 30 coffee shops, which you can't find anywhere else in the world — very exciting, but also with cultural attractions and you won't have to be embarrassed to say you came," he said.

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Anyone in Amsterdam here about this? What is going on over there?

peace & love

 

[Dreamsters]

yeah what the hell i saw this on cnn.com this morning....

 

[druglessdouglas]

Europe is being homogenised

 

[mysticwarrior]

Anyone in Amsterdam here about this? What is going on over there?

I don't live in Amsterdam, but i've heard this on the news. It's really sad, our government just realise the europian nightmare. Our own culture get's lost of those fucking plan. And i already get angry if i think about them, but it are especially the christians who are destroying it..... Where pretty fucked over here..

:evil:

 

[Mara]

Europe is being homogenised

Yes indeed, and it's pretty scary. I live in Bergen op Zoom, where all the coffeeshops have already been closed. The people in the government are destroying everything they think is wrong, without looking at the consequences.

I saw on the news the main reason of closing so many coffeeshops is that they are too close to public schools (I believe the minimum distance is 250 meters). What they don’t realise is that most of the shops don’t allow students under 18 to enter, and by closing them, you will only invite shady-looking drugdealers hanging around schoolareas selling much more then weed alone.

I must say that the amount of souvenir shops in Amsterdam annoy me though. They are all selling the same freakin windmills, cannabis-print underwear and tulips, and a few shop owners can’t even speak Dutch. But I would think the owners deserve a good investigation instead of closing them randomly (if that is the case).

 

[user_1919]

Who ever edited the post... thanks! I did not know how to post a picture. Do you just put the picture in the topic and it will appear on the homepage? I thought there was some different way to do it. But anyways, thanks.

peace & love

 

[Meduzz]

There also is a lot of fuzz around the coffeeshops on the belgian and german borders: trouble with the tourists, trouble with foreign politicians,... Also shops on the border get more customers and so they have a stock that is illegally large.

But it's a shame they are also taking it away from the dutch people. And there are still alternatives, like government controlled greenhouses so there can also be a control on the quality of the cannabis.

Why don't they just make it illegal for tourists to come and buy cannabis or mushrooms? It's a pitty for us belgians, but on the other hand most cannabis for the coffeeshops on the border comes from belgian growers, as in belgium the penalties for growing are usually less severe.

 

[Caduceus Mercurius]

Who ever edited the post... thanks! I did not know how to post a picture. Do you just put the picture in the topic and it will appear on the homepage?

No, in this case you have to add an image as an attachment (the image tags won't do it). So in this case I first downloaded an image to my computer, and then attached it to your first post.

 

[user_1919]

Ok, thank you!

 

[Forkbender]

There are streets here where every other shop is a coffeeshop that sells shitty weed. We don't need that. There are more than enough good coffeeshops in the city centre. What should be done is spread them out over Amsterdam/Holland, as right now about 2 out of every 10 coffeeshops in the whole of Holland is in the old city centre of Amsterdam.

There are also some problems with women being forced to work 'behind the window' and a lot of windows are owned by criminals. There is a lot of exploitation going on and I think that is the main reason the city decides to clean up the area. I don't think it will work and it will probably shift the problems to other locations.

 

[adoma]

Its ancient city center as part of a major cleanup operation.

Ancient!? :lol:

Well off course this isn't going to happen, i mean like, how many people would lose their jobs?!
And that all, just to make a city, look decent, in times like these !?
We've got inflation still going, everybody is stressed, we all need relaxtion and what not.

I know why our autistic government wants to shut down this all;
1. they "think" they can do it
2. they're trying to makes us forget the inflation thats going on
3. their ego just got bigger with the ban on mushrooms :twisted: as predicted

wanna know why it won't succeed (for very long);
1. Mayor of Amsterdam is resisting
2. it got there with a reason in the first place
3. A counter-political party will set it all straight
4. and would that fail, then our new flag would be coloured red, with their blood!

 

[Dantediv86]

well...let's just hope they resist! criminal or not any activity could be corrupted. now they have to make a point in saying that the government shouldn't close down coffee shops without a valid reason, such as: corruption, abusive, association in criminal activities.

 

[GOD]

High Dante !!! Its good to see your allright . I was woried that your health might not be to good ?

 

[Brugmansia]

There was on the news yesterday that the mayor wants to reduce rooms for prostitution from 420 now to 180 within the main centre.

As for the coffeeshops, they just shut some but it's nothing drastic. In some streets they're overcrowded.

The mayor is actually quite tolerant (Thank God!) when it comes to drugs. He also was a strong opponent of the mushroom ban.

 

[JohnDoe_2012]

Genuinely depressing news. For some reason I'd always taken comfort in that even when the bullshit anti-drug laws pile up elsewhere there'd always be Holland. Looks like I was taking even that small comfort for granted.

 

[SleepWaker]

Genuinely depressing news. For some reason I'd always taken comfort in that even when the bullshit anti-drug laws pile up elsewhere there'd always be Holland. Looks like I was taking even that small comfort for granted.

yes but this has nothing to do with anti-drug laws (aside from the ridiculous 250 meter from schools rule), if you actually take the time to read why they are doing this it's pretty reasonable. Of course it sucks but this is at the fault of criminals trying to abuse the system. The only thing to argue about if this is really going to work.