The End of Amsterdam Coffeeshops?

UPDATE: The enforcement of the non-smoking law in restaurants, cafes and restaurants has been delayed several years, so coffeeshops are still selling marijuana. Locals and visitors can still purchase and consume cannabis products in Dutch coffeeshops as of this time (Sept 2005).

The Dutch government has been pressured over the last decade to stop the sale of cannabis products in their famous coffeeshops by the French, German and especially US governments. This has resulted in many laws being passed, from limiting the amount of cannabis being sold to 5 grams per person per day, to shutting down coffeeshops for various reasons.

Now under the more conservative government of Balkenende, new laws are coming out to further damage the coffeeshop business, and to make it difficult if not impossible for coffeeshops to continue operating as they have been for thirty years.

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There are more than 300 marijuana and hashish selling coffeeshops in Amsterdam. So how do you know where to go and what to order?

The locals have their favorite places to hangout and buy smoke, the ex-patriots theirs. Some places are fun to linger in while you fire up a big fat doobie, others are best just to score da kine shit and leave. So how do you know which is best?

Our Coffeeshop Guide has reviews of 45 of the most popular coffeeshops in Amsterdam with visitor comments. This should give you a good idea of what’s available and what our visitors think about each one. We also have a Coffeeshop List that ranks each coffeeshop on a range of criteria including smoke and ambiance.

In addition we’ve written a series of articles on Coffeeshop Rip-offs to warn you about how the coffeeshop system works and how to avoid getting fucked over when you go to buy weed.

Now I’m going to give you some more advice about purchasing mj and hash from Amsterdam’s coffeeshops.

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