07/02 - Coffeeshops in Tilburg are ignoring the ban.

The thirteen coffeeshops of the Dutch town Tilburg (2 hours by train from Amsterdam) have unanimously ignored the smoking ban, that went into effect this Tuesday.

In each coffeeshop there is a letter waiting for the officials with an explanation for the joint protest.

Freek Hoeksema, who owns two shops of The Grass Company in Tilburg, told us: "Smoking is a fundamental part of our business and our source of income. So we do not cooperate with this ban."

So far the authorities have not undertaken any action against the coffeeshops.

Bum Shankar...
The Daily Smoker

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07/01 - Smoking ban in Holland; no way back anymore!

The Dutch smoking ban has also come into force in Holland (July 1, 2008) for all public places. So smoking inside is history. There's no way back anymore

The smoking ban also applies on coffeeshops. The new law only affects the smoking of tobacco, so it's still possible to smoke your cannabis inside the coffeeshop, as long it is not mixed with any tobacco.

For the owners there's still a possibility to escape from this draconian law. Proprietors will be allowed to set up a separate room or glass partition behind which people can smoke, but customers will not be served there to protect the staff.

Some reactions:

"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," (Jason den Enting, manager of coffee shop Dampkring)

"I expect a small decline in sales as smokers are forced to separate their nicotine addiction from their marijuana habit. But it's absurd to say that coffee shops will go bankrupt in the second week of July. Nonsense, I also instruct my staff to send tobacco smokers outside, but I don't expect all coffee shops to do the same. Some owners will ignore the ban — and will probably get away with it, at least for a while. But if obeying the smoking ban becomes a condition of renewing your business license, just watch how fast it will happen. That's the way things work." (Michael Veling, owner of the 4-20 Cafe and a board member of the Cannabis Retailers' Union)

"We will not be targeting coffee shops in particular" (Chris Krikken, spokesman for the Food and Wares Authority, charged with enforcing the ban)

Bum Shankar...
The Daily Smoker

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05/06 - Man tries to send cannabis through the post office

An unknown man has tried to smuggle cannabis from Holland to Italy in a very simple way.

The man brought a box filled with marijuana to the post office in the Kinkerstraat, Amsterdam, with the friendly request to send it to Italy.

The smell of so much cannabis filled the post office with a 'fresh odor' within minutes. The employees of the post office opened the box, because of the smell, after the man left the post office. It turned out the box contained 3,5 kilo of cannabis.

The police is still searching for the man.

Bum Shankar...
The Daily Smoker

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03/31 - Court clerk had marijuana plantation

A female clerk from the Amsterdam courthouse is suspected of having a marijuana plantation in her house. The woman, H.E.M., has received disciplinary measures.

A spokesperson for the courthouse, located in the Parnassusweg in Amsterdam, assures that the woman has been taken in for questioning. About the type of disciplinary measures the court makes no further statements. The woman is apparently suspended, while waiting for the investigation conducted by the public prossecution service. The prossecution service does not want to confirm this.

Colleagues of the suspect, who was working in the department of family matters, find the alleged behaviour of the woman schandalous. "She's not yet proven guilty, but she didn't receive disciplinary measures for nothing ", said one of them. "A civil servant has an exemplary function. From such a person you expect an integrous behaviour, especially if they work in a courthouse". The courthouse spokesperson: "The behaviour of the employee in question is not suitable for a civil servant".

According to sources in the courthouse the leaders are finding this problem hard to handle. They would prefer to keep the case away from all publicity. Namely the fact that penalties are given in the building to those who have commited a crime, and now one of their own people has made a mistake is a painful experience for the courthouse.

According to the defense lawer, Sophie Sassen, her client was connected to this marijuana plantation against her will.

Bum Shankar...
The Daily Smoker

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03/27 - Smoking pure still allowed after smoking ban kicks in

When the smoking ban goes into effect in The Netherlands from the 1st of July on, you can still keep on smoking joints, as long as they're pure without tobacco.

The smoking ban for the food and beverage industry actually doesn't apply for people who smoke their marijuana in a joint pure. That's what the Dutch minister of health Ab Klink wrote as a reply to the questions from the parliament.

The smoking ban is listed in the tobacco law and applies only to products entirely or partially made of tobacco. Joints with only marijuana are not included in this law, says Klink.

He doesn't think that people will massively change to smoking pure marijuana when the smoking ban takes place. He will however let a survey be conducted about the changes in the smoking behaviour of visitors from coffeeshops after the smoking ban goes into effect.

It's already known that the coffeeshops may have a separate room for smokers in the shop, as long as this room is closed to the personnel, so that they don't come in contact with the smoke.

Bum Shankar...
The Daily Smoker

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02/07 - Amsterdam moving underground

The city of Amsterdam has plans to build a massive underground city. A Dutch architecture company has unveiled plans for a underground city providing one million square feet of underground retail, leisure and parking facilities.

The project has been approved by the Amsterdam's city council. Construction work, lasting up to 20 years, is expected to begin in 2018. The costs will be around 9.8 billion euros.

Amsterdam was originally built on drained, swampy marshland and many of the historical Dutch houses along its canals are still supported by underground wooden beams. To find space for new developments, the Dutch engineers have decided it is easier to build in the clay under the canals.

"There has always been a lack of space in the city, so what we are doing is building a city under the city by using a new construction technique, which will not interfere with street traffic." said Moshe Zwarts, a partner at the architects Zwarts & Jansma.

The city's historic canals will be left in place, but they probably have to be temporarily drained.

Bum Shankar...
The Daily Smoker

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02/01 - Sales of magic mushrooms increased big time

The sales of magic mushrooms in Holland increased with 20% in 2007. This has been announced by Guy Boels, board member of the National Association of Smartshops (VLOS).

According to the VLOS this is mainly caused by the commotion that rose last year after some 'shroom-related incidents'. The number of mushroom related incidents rose slightly last year. But if you look at it in relative terms the numbers actually declined.

Minister of Public Health Ab Klink and Minister of Justice Ernst Hirsch Ballin decided last year to ban the cultivation and sale of magic mushrooms. Upon today this decision is still not final. The parliament will discuss this matter probably within the next few weeks.

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01/31 - Minister of Home Affairs wants to ban cannabis use by off duty police officers

Guusje ter Horst, Dutch Minister of Home Affairs, wants to ban cannabis use by off duty police officers. The use of cannabis can damage the officers' reputation and authority, the minister says.

The Amsterdam police precinct already specified this in their new behavior directive sent by this precinct to all the officers the beginning of this year. But at the moment there's no national guideline due this matter.

Because of the new Amsterdam behavior directive some questions were asked to the minister in the parliament due this matter and the national guidelines. The minister now wants all forces throughout the country to ban the use of cannabis by off duty police officers in an attempt to preserve the reputation and authority of the police. Officers who still violate the regulations should be penalized with disciplinary sanctions.

Reaction of Hans van Duijn, chairman of the Dutch police union: "Many of our members are opposed to this..."

P.S. Before she was Minister of Home Affairs she was the mayor of Nijmegen. In this function, with a huge responsibility when it comes to 'reputation and authority', she was caught in July 2006 for drunk driving (off duty). Except a small fine, no disciplinary sanctions whatsoever of course. In those years she did suspend 4 police officers though… for drunk driving (off duty).

Bum Shankar...
The Daily Smoker

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01/23 - Dutch company ‘invents’ cannabis pill

The privately-held Dutch company Echo Pharmaceuticals expects to sell the world's first cannabis pill within five years.

CEO Geert Woerlee said they will start clinical studies and trials of their pills within a few months. The name of their pill will be 'Namisol'.

Recently the company managed to attract an investment of 3 million euros, so they were able to register their pill officially as a medicine. They think the global cannabis-based drugs market might be worth 4 billion euros.

They do have some competition; a company called 'Cannasat' from Canada is developing a similar pill at the moment.

Bum Shankar...
The Daily Smoker

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01/10 - Prices for real estate in Amsterdam increased drastically

Prices for real estate in Amsterdam increased drastically the last year, estate agents association NVM said on Thursday.

In the last 3 months of 2007 the price for an average house in Amsterdam has gone up with 7.7% up to 272.000 euro. Especially apartments have gone up in price with an average of 8%. In the rest of Holland the price has only gone up with 1.2%.

In Amsterdam there has been a total price increase in 2007 of almost 14%. This is the highest % in Holland. The rest of Holland had an average price increase of 4.3%.

NVM chairman Ger Hukker told that at this moment it is very difficult for people on low or middle incomes to afford their own home. 'It is this group of home-buyers who are hit harder than most by other related costs such as property tax and energy price rises,' he said. 'These costs are also going up sharply and weigh more heavily on first-time buyers than people who are upgrading to a bigger home.

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