Logos

Hey Solutions, I have been thinking it would be really cool to have the "Kingdom of the Netherlands" represented on this site.

I as well as most Americans just don't have much of a concept of how things work there, and I'm surious if you'd be interested in doing a little writing for the front page to describe basically the same thing you just described here.

A one time thing, or a regular installment thing, or anything in between would help us to understand a society where tolerance is the word of the day.

I think your views could help to bring our views into line and demystify your country's attitudes regarding marijuana and how it's consumption should be handled.

Slide me a PM if you are at all interested in doing this.

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Brother Logos
The more I learn, the less I know. | Truth doesn't change, only our perception of it does.
THC Ministry | The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ | The Reluctant Messenger of Science and Religion
True religion is real living, living with all one's soul, with all ones goodness and righteousness. --Albert Einstein

solutions

I may be a lazy bastard with a fear of commitment, but that just sounds like too much of an honour to turn down Logos. I'll give it some thought and PM you shortly. Peace

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3 monkeys sitting under a coconut tree
discussing things as they are set to be
Said one to the other, now listen you two
there's a strange rumor that can't be true
they say man was descended from our noble race
but the very idea is a big disgrace
no monkey ever deserted his wife
or her baby to ruin their lives.
Damian Marley - Educated Fools

Logos

Thanks Solutions, I'm not really interested in any specific commitment, just whatever flows from your soul through your fingers to enlighten the world to a system that appears to be working well.

Part of the reason I'm attempting to move marijuana.com from a site that just reposts news to a site where people express their opinions, and give the knowledge/experiences they have is to get away from the concept of commitment.

The old system required much more commitment from not only me, but the people who helped gather the news.

I'll take whatever you are willing to give, no more no less.

Thanks for your consideration, I look forward to hearing from you.

I envision a few of us are pushing a boulder, and a whole lot of people are sitting around toking it up, and chatting away. If everyone stood up and lended their weight, whatever that may be, to the pushing of the boulder, we could get it where it needs to be all that much faster.

We will become an activist site if I have to give up the sacred herb to get it done, that is how much I want change!

From today until marijuana laws become sane, I will wake up and envision that milling crowd standing up and lending their collective weight to moving this along.

Nothing to do but get it done!

"We need to stick together to make this beautiful place better" --KottonMouth Kings

Thanks,

Suetaz

"There are 2 licenced commercial growers, they provide pharmacies with medical mj" - originally posted by solutions


Solutions,

Only 2? How large are these grow operations? Do the grow operations mostly supply medicinal users that are unable to grow their own? I agree with Logos, I would love to hear more about what life is like in Amsterdam. Also I was wondering if you have been there long enough to know what it was like prior to to the legalizaton of it. If it is legalized here in Canada I would like to know what to expect when it happens. I am wondering what kind of changes took place during the transition phase, how people reacted and how long it took society to accept the changes.
Too many questions? Sorry I am curious. I hope I've given you something to write about for the front page.

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solutions

Still contemplating on a somewhat structured contribution
I smoked my last joint a few months ago, it may well have been my last ever. I felt I used mj as an excuse for not getting things done. Since then (and being on this board) my disliking of this perversion of reason we call prohibition has grown. Funny in a way that not smoking mj for a while gives me a greater drive to get 'involved' in the war against this war on people. I salute your intention in making this an activist site, and hope I can find the time to make a contribution. I think knowledge of the Dutch 'experiment' is very valuable for the American cause, and the USA is essential for the worldwide fight against prohibition.I don't know how large these growers are, but they're very professional. These growers sell the MJ to the Office of Medicinal Cannabis (OMC), run by the Dutch government. (Click here for their homepage, their information in english is (still) limited, but the FAQ section is quite interesting). the OMC then sells to pharmacies who sell to patients with presciptions.

I was born in the Netherlands and live in Amsterdam since '94, I'm 28 now, mj has been decriminalized some 30+ years now, so no firsthand info on the times before, but my dad was no stranger in the Dutch mj-scene in those days, I was probably born with THC in my blood.

The Canadian Senate commission is very interesting. Dutch decriminalization started with 2 commissions ('68 & '72) concluding decrim of mj was the best way to reduce harm. Click here for an article on those commissions and the beginning of Dutch decriminalization. The writer of this article (Cohen, the Amsterdam "drug professor") was one of the experts heard by the Canadian Senate. Click here for his hearing. Canada now has a lot of unbiased expert information available online, and their conclusion was very clear. Within a few years I expect Canada has completely decriminalized personal use. Then again, I read in Cohen's hearing the Canadian Le Dain commission in '73 came to the same conclusion as the Dutch commission.....

As for the transition phase, if I remember correctly there were these hippies with political manifestations, including "mari-hoe, mari-wat, mari-waar" (mari-how,-what,-where). The idea was that every hippie had tinfoil-wrapped marijuana-like substances on him/her, with the purpose of driving the police (then uneducated on mj) crazy. I'd have to research that further though. I'm not sure if this was large scale, or in any way contributing to decrim. I know there were petitions to politicians those days with the slogan "een tevreden roker is geen onruststoker" (A satisfied smoker is no troublemaker)Not at all, is that all you got? Bring 'em on! Peace.

solutions

I found some more on that. The following is ca. 10% of the illustrated article "Dutch Provos" that ran in HighTimes in january 1990, written by Dutch photographer Teun Voeten source:

(edit) I hadn't heard of the "Afrikaanse Druk Stoor" before. This seams to have been a marijuana-outlet that opened in 1963. A google search only gives Teun Voeten as a source. The "Mellow Yellow", which opened in 1972 is generally regarded as the first Dutch coffeeshop (more).

Logos

And maybe that is just what this movement needs, a little fun insanity. Though I don't much like the idea of wasting such a precious resource on pranks, it could cost someone else their life. Though I'd have to admit it would be fun.

Could something like this work without harming someone who really needs the cops who would be playing?

While I love this idea, I just don't know if it could be done without some harmful side effect.

Anyone got any thoughts? If it worked once, it could be made to work again somehow.

beats

Maybe doing it in places cops are searching you anyways Like entering a concert, at an airport (maybe). There should be a game, if someone could put some thought into it, that wouldn't have any harmful side effects.

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Mamabudz

Make sure you have the media RIGHT THERE...cause American Cops just have no sense of humor

I'm thinking maybe go to a concert and dress like Harpo Marx --- wear a long trenchcoat -- and start pulling things out of your "pockets"...like a full grown silk Pot Plant... a huge fake cigar... etc.

By the way, in Horse Feathers there is a great scene where harpo is forced to "smoke rope"... those Marx brothers, they just crack me up

Hugz,

Mama Budz

Suetaz

Damn you're good Solutions! Wish I could've gotten that kind of response when I asked a question in school, maybe I would've learned more. Thank you for taking the time! Now I have to go back and click on all your links, this ought to keep me busy for a while...I love this, my brain feels like a sponge eager to soak up information. I didn't believe my teachers when they said learning was fun, but now that I'm older and have a choice of what I want to learn, I've discovered they were right.