High times in the Lowlands
On a sunny day in the park, listening to rap and reggae, a few thousand people came together once again to celebrate the free use of weed at the 4th Annual Cannabis Liberty Day in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is one of the few countries in the world that allows people the freedom to choose and use cannabis for recreational and medical use. This easy going get together attracted a wide variety of people who were there to support and maintain their right to smoke, vape or ingest cannabis.
On January 1st of 2012 a conservative right winged government passed a law in the south of Holland that a person could no longer go into a “coffee shop” and buy marijuana. If they wanted to do that they would have to register for a weed pass. This was supposed to be a deterrent for tourists looking for weed. Already they have reported more crime as the new law has forced cannabis underground.
At the Cannabis Liberty Day there were a lot of people speaking out about this topic. Musicians, writers, businessmen and politicians all agreed that after 30 years of normalization in Holland this sudden conservative shift can only lead down a road that other countries have already experienced.
Holland was a leading example of how to deal with marijuana (no pun intended). Other countries looked to Holland for answers to help solve the growing crime rates and the overflowing jails full of marijuana users being kept there at the taxpayer’s expense. The War on Drugs has failed. It’s been unanimously declared as an expensive, ineffective experiment.
“The Cannabista’s” is the name for a large group of people that are asking the world to wake up and stand up for their right to use a simple plant – a weed without suffering criminal prosecution.
A big campaign is being launched in the Netherlands, “Vote to Vape or Smoke”. They are listing themselves as a political party and will be fighting to eliminate the weed pass.
So if you were thinking of heading to Holland for your summer vacation you may want to stay away from the South of Holland and spend your time in Amsterdam where you get a free pass to do as you please.
