Dutch cannabis smoker fined - for using tobacco
A man was fined by the Dutch police for smoking a cannabis joint but only because it was mixed with tobacco.
While the Netherlands has kept its liberal policy on the smoking of cannabis in the country's legendary "coffee shops", zero tolerance is now shown to tobacco smokers in Dutch cafes and restaurants after a smoking came ban came into force last July.
An Amsterdam police spokesman admitted that it could be difficult to understand the current Dutch policy of allowing smokers to puff away on pure cannabis while fining tobacco users.
"For logic it is sometimes impossible to explain, even to the Dutch," he said.
"The man was not fined for smoking a cannabis joint but for smoking. You can smoke cannabis but not tobacco in coffee shops."
The unnamed 27-year-old man owns one of the city's coffee shops, where the purchase and smoking of cannabis is tolerated, and he is expected to contest the case in court.
It will be the first test of a Dutch smoking ban that exempts people from enjoying joints as long as only pure marijuana is used.
The man was caught lighting a hand rolled cannabis joint during a routine police check and fined because officers found tobacco mixed with the soft drug.
The smoking ban is usually enforced by municipal health and safety inspectors "but if a police officer signals an infringement, he does not close his eyes to it," said the police spokesman.
A fifth of Dutch cafes and bars are ignoring the tobacco smoking ban, which was introduced on July 1. Many are setting up special funds to collect money to pay fines issued to smokers.
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
John,
ReplyDeleteIt's good cafe owners have plans for survival. Many British pubs are in dire straits/closing as a result of the government's ban on smoking.
jailhouselawyer,
ReplyDeleteGood for them !
Have you ever tried smokin' a pure grass joint? STONED in two seconds flat. Feckin' european government law. Unworkable, unenforceable and a complete waste of polis time and money. Feck the laws and all whit sail in them
ReplyDeleteanonymous:
ReplyDeleteIt irks me that so many british publicans accepted this euro law without any resistance. Too many muslims on the euro parliament. They don't smoke or drink (except in the privacy of their own homes, the hypocrites - so they wouldn't be monitored there....YET) so they think we shouldn't either.
Thats where this law comes from.