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Coffeeshops Yes, it's true. In Amsterdam or anywhere in the Netherlands, you can walk into a coffeeshop, purchase weed and light up. You can order a munchy, sip a coffee, try a spacecake, sit back to listen to music and relax. Perhaps you'll be inclined to contemplate the absurd and ridiculous laws - not to mention the mindless hysteria - against soft drugs in the rest of the 'civilized' world. Almost all of the coffeeshops have a menu listing the types and prices of herb and hash available. It's cheap, and either priced by the gram, by the bag, or by the joint. The price for average Dutch weed, or Nederwiet, is € 7.- for a small bag of around 1.4 gram, or € 11.50 for a 3-4 gram bag. This is more common in coffeeshops distant from the tourist areas, and applies to Dutch-grown varieties. Also generally available are Thai and Jamaican weed, sometimes sold cheaper. Nowadays you buy by THC concentration more than by weight! For a tutorial on weed and rolling joints, other places on the net are far more suitable. Generic skunk does it for us, and the nicer and more potent strains carry a higher price tag and are best reserved for lazy weekends Try the Smokersguide for detailed information. If you are not from around here and the coffeeshop scene looks a bit intimidating at first sight (aka reefer madness phobia), rest assured that you will find lots of normal, regular, plain people in them. Tourists and locals, investment bankers and thugs, all layers of society eventually enter a coffeeshop. There is an annual competition aimed at finding the best weed on the planet, imaginatively named Cannabis Cup, and they merrily tour Amsterdam completely buzzed, and gather one night to share the results and communicate them to the world in general. If you do not need to join such type of tours, other guides to coffeeshops exist on the net, from the 420 tours one borrowed from High Times, the Bible of the hobby, to the very, very, very comprehensive Coffeeshop Directory. Jon's and Coffeeshop Guide of the Netherlands are also good bets If you're all thumbs when it comes to rolling your own, very often packets of pre-rolled can be bought. Pre-rolled joints come in two varieties. In the Netherlands, the ritual of rolling a joint includes mixing weed with tobacco, something uncommon across the Atlantic and in other parts of the world, and heresy for the "connoisseur." Apparently smoking kills, and therefore pure weed joints are available. Good coffeeshops will have both for you to choose, but be wary, if you are not a regular dope smoker, of the effects of pure-weed joints. The flavour is better, but the smashing effect is also heavier. Prices for pre-rolled joints vary between € 2.50 and € 4.00, and only a limited selection of strains is available. Some hash varieties and a pure-weed joint will be on the pre-rolled menu too. If you cannot find pure-weed pre-rolled joints, do not despair. A lot of places have bongs that you can borrow, or you can bring your own. The usual etiquette is that you should order something inside a coffeeshop, either drinks or smokes, but nobody will hassle you if you bring your own stuff and just order some tea to spend a relaxed hour or two. The myth that drugs are legal in the Netherlands is just that, myth. Soft drugs are tolerated, and that's all. This means you can buy weed or hash without risking arrest, that you can carry a small amount of soft drugs with you, that you can grow a small number of plants at your place for personal use, that you are free to roll one and enjoy it inside a coffeeshop or at your place, but this does not mean you can behave like a teenager on his first booze run and behave like a jerk. Smoking dope in public places is not ok, and even some nightlife locales will discourage you from rolling and lighting up a phat one. Smoking on the street is also not regarded in a good way by the honest hardworking folks, so do not do it unless you are alone. If you think you won't bother anyone with your joint, then smoke it, otherwise find a suitable place for the recreational break. This is sane advice, it's meant to help you avoid trouble with your neighbours or with the police. Also, some hotels are not too fond of smoking guests, so better ask beforehand in case there are no ashtrays in your room. We receive lots of questions concerning legal age for smoking or entering a coffeeshop. The word legal is not totally adequate for this situation, given that soft drugs are only tolerated, but 18 years old or possessing a face that looks like it will get you inside a coffeeshop. Actually, there are no ID checks (or they are rare) in the Netherlands, you will just be refused a purchase of the goods if you look too young. Good advice is not to smoke dope if you are still growing and learning. There are other fun things to do when you are a teenager, so postpone brain destruction till you are in college. There are limits to the amount of drugs you can buy or carry, 5 grams per person, but nobody will care if you buy a couple of bags for sampling purposes. The best thing to do is to read the Ministry of Justice's Factsheet about drugs, from which we present a short paragraph: The sale of small quantities of soft drugs in coffee shops (which are not allowed to sell alcohol) is therefore technically an offense, but prosecution proceedings are only instituted if the operator or owner of the shop does not meet the following criteria: no more than five grams per person may be sold in any one transaction; no hard drugs may be sold; drugs may not be advertised; the coffee shop must not cause any nuisance; no drugs may be sold to minors (under the age of 18), nor may minors be admitted to the premises. A good thing about coffeeshops is the wide selection of teas and coffees. Your mouth is bound to get dry, and your stomach will clamour for some munchies too. Avoid the mistake of eating a space-cake: you'll be adding a full trip to the one you're currently on . In another words, Spacecakes are strong stuff. Save it for another time, and eat it slowly when you do. Give it's effects time to kick in, or you could be very sorry.

Taken from http://www.ignatzmice.com/Adam/framed.htm