October 15, 2013

The country’s first cannabis club challenged by government

Filed under: Dutch first by Orangemaster @ 7:03 pm

Utrecht has become the first Dutch city to set up a cannabis growers’ club for recreational use. The Social Cannabis Club Domstad has been officially registered so that a small group of approved growers can cultivate marijuana under the supervision of the local authority.

The municipal council has asked the Ministry of Justice to give the club an exemption from the opium law, similar to those granted to producers of medicinal cannabis, but justice minister Ivo Opstelten has said he is opposed to local councils authorising the cultivation of cannabis and threatened to take action against Utrecht if it goes ahead with the plan.

It remains odd that marijuana is still illegal, but that licensed coffeeshops are allowed to sell small quantities on their premises under strict conditions. The thing is, their supply isn’t regulated and is still criminal, but this would finally be an attempt at knowing where the pot actually comes from for a change. This don’t ask, don’t tell policy is what keeps this entire pot business a shady one.

(Links: www.amsterdamherald.com, www.destadutrecht.nl,
Photo by Eric Caballero, some rights reserved)

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October 3, 2013

Drug sniffing dog finds stash of cash instead of drugs

Filed under: Automobiles by Orangemaster @ 7:00 am

Last week during a major traffic check on a motorway in Emmen near the German border 191,000 euro was found in the roof of a car. A 33-year-old male driver whose car reeked of marijuana was pulled over and searched by a drug sniffing dog. The traffic check was a joint operation of the Dutch cops, German cops, royal marshals, tax office and border guards.

Instead of finding what could have been marijuana, the Dutch cops found 191,000 euros stashed in the roof of the guy’s car. It was later confirmed that the man had been suspected of money laundering. He’s already walking around free, but he’s still a suspect.

All I can say is if you’re going to try not to attract attention to yourself for money laundering and then hide the money in your car, smoking dope in your car is akin to having a sign on the side of it that says “hi, the money is in here, please pull me over”.

(Link: crimesite.nl)

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June 12, 2013

Government must pay damages to marijuna sellers caused by ‘weed pass’

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 4:06 pm

Last Wednesday a court in The Hague ordered the Dutch government to pay owners of marijuana bars (called coffeeshops in the Netherlands) the damages caused by the introduction of the so-called ‘weed pass’, NRC writes.

Last year the government introduced the requirement for coffeeshop patrons to register in order to make it impossible for foreign customers to purchase marijuana. The requirement was dropped later that year, but by that time coffeeshops in the provinces of Limburg, Noord-Brabant and Zeeland had already seen a decline in income as local customers also stayed away.

Coffeeshop customers are still required to prove residency. The court felt the extra requirement of obtaining a weed pass was a “disproportionately large infringement of the interest of coffeeshop patrons.”

Justice Minister Ivo Opstelten has announced that he will appeal the verdict.

(Photo by Torben Bjørn Hansen, some rights reserved. Link: The Amsterdam Herald.)

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June 7, 2013

Marijuana scratch and sniff cards for Heerlen

Filed under: General by Orangemaster @ 11:38 am

The city of Heerlen, Limburg plans to hand out scratch and sniff cards smelling of marijuana to residents so that they can help report illegal marijuana nurseries. It’s not a new idea. Back in 2010 we told you about cannabis scratch and sniff cards to sniff out illegal plantations.

Basically the police need help and what better help than people who think it smells funny over at the neighbour’s place.

In Heerlen’s case, embarrassement played a good part in bringing up the scratch and sniff card. A marijuana nursery was discovered in a building with a daycare centre, something you don’t read about every day and not good publicity for a city that has been fighting its drug-induced image for so many years. [Insert bad joke about children learning what pot smells like at a young age ].

I can still picture the German woman in this story saying it smells like Amsterdam.

Our info from 2010 stated that about 6,000 plantations are found out every year, 300 of which back then were uncovered in Rotterdam alone.

(Link: www.limburger.nl)

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April 26, 2013

Marijuana seeds with orange tops for the Queen

Filed under: Nature,Weird by Orangemaster @ 9:27 pm

Coffeeshop owner Theo Buissink of Groningen wants to launch a bunch of orange-coloured helium balloons with marijuana seeds in them with the text ‘Thank you Majesty’, referring to Queen Beatrix who will abdicate the throne on 30 April. When the balloons burst at high altitude, the seeds will spread and marijuana plants will grow all over the country. The plants will have orange tops, as the owner claims to have had those specially cultivated for the occasion. The first plants should start appearing in September 2013. The coffeeshop is appropriately called ‘De Vliegende Hollander’ (‘The Flying Dutchman’).

The whole thing makes for a nice animation video in your head using your imagination.

“When Willem-Alexander was 18 we sent him joints for his birthday. Now he will get an empty container that he can fill up with weed in our shop during his visit to Groningen.”

Here’s the story in Dutch:

(Link: opmerkelijk.nieuws.nl)

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April 11, 2013

Cooking with weed becomes fashionable and mainstream

Filed under: Fashion,Food & Drink by Orangemaster @ 3:16 pm

Well-known snack bar Manneken Pis on the Damrak, the first main street any tourist sees when they exit Amsterdam Central Station to walk towards the Palace, has started offering fries with a marijuana sauce as of today. Weed is usually quite pungent in food, which is why people put it in creamy or buttery substances, as it is not the easiest thing to cook with or digest for that matter. Yes, it can provide a very decent, slow buzz, thanks for asking.

Also in weed-related cooking, Dutch clothing company FreshCotton got the Arnold Amsterdam agency to produce a drug-based cookbook to promote the new range of Stüssy Amsterdam tees. “The cookbook, which references Amsterdam’s tolerance towards narcotics, demonstrates how to create dishes (very short video) using high-end ingredients and drugs – like marijuana and magic mushrooms – that can be legally obtained in the Netherlands.” It also contains some men’s fashion.

(Link: www.amsterdamfm.nl, www.campaignlive.co.uk)

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September 19, 2012

Weed grower electrocuted in neighbour’s crawlspace

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 12:58 pm

Two weeks ago a man from De Meern near Utrecht was found dead in the crawlspace of his neighbour’s house.

According to the Utrecht police, the 46-year-old had electrocuted himself trying to steal his neighbour’s electricity. He had dug a tunnel underneath the foundation of both houses. The police had to cut out the neighbour’s floor to retrieve the corpse, which they believe had been lying there for no more than a day.

Parool adds that the man was a marijuana grower, which would explain why he had been looking for ways to lower his electricity bills, as weed growers use high powered lamps.

Earlier this year a 23-year-old weed grower from Oss in Noord Brabant was also electrocuted while working in his marijuana nursery.

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October 2, 2011

French tourists angry about discrimination at Maastricht marijuana bars

Filed under: General by Branko Collin @ 3:28 pm

Coffeeshop owners in Maastricht have started to refuse catering to French patrons. The owners are anticipating a new law that obliges marijuana buyers to have a club card, the so-called wietpas. This card will only be available to adult Dutch residents or other legal residents of the Netherlands.

Writes De Telegraaf:

“C’est du fascisme,” an angry Frenchman yelled to the doorman of coffeeshop Easy Going on the Hoenderstraat in the capital of Limburg. The doorman had just refused him entry. Angry French people also said they felt discriminated against, and accused the doormen of racism.

Coffeeshop managers referred French tourists to venues in nearby cities. Coffeeshop Rasta Fari Boni was the only one in Maastricht still selling marijuana to French customers. German and Belgian tourists were still being served in Maastricht.

Coffeeshop owners fear that the trade in marijuana will disappear underground, where buyers will have to do business directly with dangerous criminals. It is logical to assume that this is exactly what the Rutte government wants, although I am not clear as to why somebody would want this.

(Photo of a Maastricht marijuana bar on a boat by Flickr user Thalling55, some rights reserved)

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August 19, 2011

DNA sequence of cannabis online thanks to Dutch lab

Filed under: Nature,Science by Orangemaster @ 9:07 pm

Run by American Kevin McKernan, with a laboratory in Amsterdam, the Mecca of cannabis, the company Medicinal Genomics has deciphered the genetic identity of cannabis, DNA sequence and all.

Apparently, Cannabis sativa“has 84 other compounds that could fight pain or possibly even shrink tumors. But anti-marijuana laws make it difficult for scientists to breed and study the plant in most countries. That’s one reason he decided to publish his data for free on Amazon’s EC2, a public data cloud.”

The idea is of course to produce all kinds of ‘good’ products without the nasty side effects of getting high. And then you can’t grow plants just anywhere to conduct experiments in many countries, and so the Netherlands is quite convenient sometimes.

(Links: gizmodo.com, npr.org, Photo by Eric Caballero, some rights reserved)

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July 13, 2011

No more ‘no-blow zones’ for Amsterdam

Filed under: Architecture,General,Health,Weird by Orangemaster @ 2:20 pm

The city of Amsterdam has been told today by the Council of State (no more appeals can be made) that it is breaking the Opium Law by putting up signs that designate certain places as ‘no-blow’ zones (‘blowen’ in Dutch is smoking pot). The first ever area of Amsterdam was around a public place called Mercatorplein, 800 metres from my place.

Mercatorplein is notorious for being regularly overhauled (love the last job, with a play fountain and trendy restaurant) and having been designed by famous artist H.P Berlage (with a tower that was broken down in 1961 and rebuilt in 1995). In recent times, it has been the backdrop for a riot between the Dutch Moroccan community and the police, as well as a hit and run where the driver ran over a known female cabaret artist, but the licence plate of his car fell off.

Way back some residents in the East of the city asked for the ban to keep their kids’ playground clean. They actually didn’t get the ban, only because the city thought it was a bit harsh.

In the Netherlands and contrary to all the tourist websites, soft drugs are illegal, as stated in the Opium Law. But yes, we go to the coffee shops and buy pre-rolled joints just like you buy a pack of smokes at the shop. The law is simply ignored and soft drugs are ‘tolerated’.

The crazy logic is because soft drugs are forbidden, you don’t need a sign to forbid them again. Of course, this is not in tune with reality, but then again neither is the Opium Law.

(Link: blikopnieuws.nl, Photo of No-blow (and no drinking) sign by Erik Joling, some rights reserved)

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