The Netherlands are one of the most broad-minded countries in the world, and Amsterdam is the center where tourists flock for drugs, drinking, and the historic red-light district.  Prostitution, abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, magic mushrooms and soft drugs, like marijuana, have long been legal here.  Though marijuana is technically illegal here, it is sold with official sanction in small amounts in “coffee houses.” 

 But parliament it rallying to clean up this region, feeling that people are fed up with the lazy attitude of the government.  In 2006, parliament stopped coffeehouses from selling alcohol if they sell marijuana, making them choose between the two, and they are now negotiating to have them located at least 250 yards from schools.  And this year a ban on the sale of hallucinogenic mushrooms goes into effect.  Also, in December of last year, Amsterdam’s mayor and City Council announced a plan to weed out brothels and escort services by forcing their owners to apply for permits and by raising the minimum age of prostitutes from 18 to 21.  They don’t want to get rid of the prostitution, but want to cut it significantly.  And if the City Council gets it way, the historic buildings will be resorted to attract hotels and restaurants, and leaving the remaining brothels clustered on just a few streets.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 6th, 2008 at 10:37 am and is filed under Europe, Amsterdam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Jette Larsen Says:

February 7th, 2008 at 9:52 am

This is very sad news