Dutch Ban Smoking Tobacco

Published on July 24, 2008 3:02 AM

Spluttering and coughing resonated around coffee shop in Amsterdam as clients got to grips with new Dutch smoking regulations that prohibit tobacco but not marijuana.

Coffee houses fear for their future as government allows marijuana to remain legal but bans mixing the cigarettes with drug.

One of the workers said: “They have to smoke pure weed now and they’re not used to it. That’s why there’s all this coughing. It’s going to be quite tricky.”

The Netherlands became the latest European country after the Great Britain and France to introduce a ban on lighting-up in public places. Authorities warned that offenders would face fines of between €300 and €2,400 if they were caught smoking on a cigarette in a restaurant, bar or cafe. But government attorneys said that the legislation only applied to tobacco products. People can use cannabis five grams without fear of prosecution. The 750 or so licensed Dutch coffee shops can continue to stock and sell a maximum of 500 grams of cannabis and their clients can continue to smoke it so long as it is not mixed with tobacco. The employees are going to stand in it watching their customers. And if they put any tobacco in at all, they are going to tell them to go outside.

The manager of Dampkring in Amsterdam, Jason den Enting: “It’s the world upside down. In other countries they look for the marijuana in the cigarette. Here they look for the cigarette in the marijuana.” Amid thinks that pure cannabis can be too strong for users accustomed to mixing it with tobacco.

But many coffee shops have stopped customers from smoking altogether, which can lead to the end of the coffee shop industry.