News Forum - Amsterdam institutes red light cannabis ban

[Thaiger]

While Thailand has turned into a cannabis free-for-all, some have warned that legalisation leads down a destructive path to crime and degeneration. Those defending legislation have pointed to places where cannabis has been legal for years without becoming Sodom & Gomorrah, like some US states and, famously, Amsterdam. But now authorities in Amsterdam have announced …

The story Amsterdam institutes red light cannabis ban as seen on Thaiger News.

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[TWS60]

Humans in a dense habitat area need structure and boundaries in order to (hopefully) co-exist without too many problems.  People coming from less free areas of the world and/or restrictive religious cultures to a place like the red light district of AMST, Pattaya, Phuket, etc., it must feel like parachuting into that bar in the original Star Wars film.  Add alcohol and/or drugs, some are going to lose the plot, so having a list of rules, some of which simply reinforce common sense and politeness, is required for the good of the collective. 

My only experience in AMST was an (intentional) overnight layover just to see what the infamous red light district was about.  By that time I was an established globe trotter with plenty of low-rent fun times in other garden spots of the world, so to be perfectly honest, AMST didn't move the needle for me.  I did a few orbits at night then sat down to watch the world go by.  Never even had a beer or a smoke.  Around midnight I heard a man screaming bloody murder from somewhere nearby, echoing among the buildings as cops started running that direction.  I grimaced and sighed, wandered back to my hotel as it began to rain, and that was it for me.  No overwhelming desire to go again.