PROGRESSIVE POT LAWS A DUTCH DREAM

Of course I couldn't come to Amsterdam and not talk about their liberalized
marijuana policy.

Not only is this a topic that is near and dear to my heart, but it is also
something that Canada is headed toward, and it's important for people like
me to deliver firsthand, unbiased opinions of what it actually means to
live with pot.

Now prior to coming to Amsterdam I had heard many rumours about the
marijuana policy, but was unsure about how it actually worked.

For those who don't know, soft drugs aren't technically legal in the
Netherlands, but they are decriminalized and have been since the 1970s,
meaning that it is not a criminal offense to carry up to five grams of
marijuana for private consumption. Weed is sold legally only in licensed
establishments--coffee shops--which are taxed and are subject to strict
rules and limits on possession. Everything is extremely above-board and
professional; marijuana tourism is a huge industry here and brings in a lot
of money, which helps to relieve the large tax burden in Amsterdam. It also
saves the government from wasting money on ineffectual "War on Drugs"
campaigns and court fees that could be better spent elsewhere, improving
the quality of life for the citizens in so many other ways.

It's amazing how unexceptional drugs are considered here. The coffee shops
are barely even noticeable, nestled quietly in between sex shops and
bookstores, overlooking pretty little canals with Dutch families walking
by. The system works mainly because of the attitude of the Dutch, who are
very progressive, realistic, and pragmatic.

They do not care what anyone else is doing so long as they are not
affected, and this allows for a very tolerant society, one which turns a
blind eye to just about everything. The government here recognizes that
they have no business telling their citizens how they should live, but
rather they aim to educate and inform their citizens so that they can make
the best choices possible for themselves. As a result of this form of
liberalism, soft drugs such as marijuana and mushrooms are treated as a
health concern, much like cigarettes, rather than as a criminal activity.

The Dutch government has chosen not to punish its citizens for doing what
they are going to do anyway by turning them into criminals, and, in so
doing, have reduced the amount of "crime" in their city by a fair amount.

The Dutch aren't made to feel like criminals, and as a result, they don't
behave like criminals.

In fact, most of the Dutch don't smoke weed at all, it is almost entirely a
foreign population; Brits, Canadians, Americans, Australians, a few
Europeans, who can be found hanging around the coffee shops.

The Dutch, though offered everything, indulge in nothing.

North Americans, denied everything, are always gluttonous of that which is
forbidden.

It's no wonder that there is so much crime, so much dissatisfaction in
North America: our society is designed in a way that is counterintuitive to
human nature, places restrictions on the things that make life worth
living, and criminalizes those who don't fit the mold. While cities like
New York and Washington clean bodies off the streets every night,
Amsterdam, in spite of the sex and the drugs, has very little edge.
Everything is on the streets, and as a result, there is no underground, no
tension running through the air--just solitary individuals engaging in
crimes that hurt no one. By decriminalizing marijuana the Dutch government
has decriminalized a large portion of their population, which allows the
police to spend their time catching real criminals: people whose actions
actually affect the well-being of others.

The cops are not the enemy here, and their presence on the streets is
little felt. In Canada, the sight of a cop will usually make me feel
nervous and just a bit guilty, as though my presence itself is a crime.

Here I can freely walk through the streets knowing that any behaviour I
engage in is legal and tolerated and perfectly acceptable and it's a
liberating feeling.

You have nothing to be ashamed of in Amsterdam, nothing to hide, and it
really gives the city a comfortable, open, and unrestricted atmosphere that
is refreshing and incredibly fun.

Whether the decriminalization of marijuana in Canada is going to be as
successful as the Netherlands is a difficult question to answer.

There is already a big smoking culture in Canada, and the cops taken made
steps toward increasing leniency where marijuana-related charges are
concerned, but it is by no means considered acceptable to light up in
public, and the only coffee shop in Hamilton is regularly raided to
discourage patronage. Still, the Liberals are moving in the right
direction, and the decriminalization of pot in Canada will not only
terminate dangerous, large-scale grow-ops run by organized crime, but it
will also take a load off the backs of the many Canadians who don't believe
that the government should have the power to regulate personal, private,
non-dangerous behaviour.

As far as I can see, there are very few negative repercussions of the pot
policy here, other than a few misbehaving tourists.

In a city where bike theft is the most pressing concern, where people are
free to roam the streets unburdened and unafraid, you've got to figure that
the police, the government and the citizens themselves are doing something
right.