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Smoking ban hits Amsterdam 'coffee shops'
On July 1, the Netherlands will be one of the last European countries to comply with EU law and ban smoking in bars and restaurants.
- AP
- Published: 00:04 June 28, 2008
Amsterdam: This city's famed marijuana bars have weathered many challenges over the years and are still smoking, blanketed in reggae music and a skunky haze.
But now they face an unwelcome blast of fresh air: On July 1, the Netherlands will be one of the last European countries to comply with EU law and ban smoking in bars and restaurants.
The Health Ministry has made it clear the ban will apply to cafes that sell marijuana, known as coffee shops.
But this being Holland, which for centuries has experimented with social liberalism, there's a loophole: the ban covers tobacco but not marijuana, which is technically illegal anyway.
Marijuana possession is illegal in the Netherlands, but smokers are not prosecuted for holding up to 5 grams.
Around 750 cafes - half of them in Amsterdam - are licensed to have up to 500 grams in stock at any one time.
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