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"River" of pressure on social networks/ Celebrities "targeted", who is inciting them to protests

The protests of recent days related to the situation in Zv...

Amsterdam bans the smoking of narcotic plants, seeks to change its image

2023-07-31 09:19:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

This is not the first sign banning the smoking of harmful narcotic plants, with which the capital of the Netherlands seeks to react to the increase in the number of tourists. Other penalties risk receiving those who drink alcohol on the street and who fail to get to the nearest public bathroom.

A Cannabis Boat Trip

He wanted to spend his holidays there, smoke some cannabis and have fun, says a young man from Newcastle who came here as a tourist. He is waiting at Oudesijds Voorburgwal, at the Smoke Boats mooring, directly across from the entrance to a luxury hotel. In Smokeboat it is allowed to smoke cannabis completely legally. Several times a day, a boat filled with dozens of tourists departs for a one-hour cruise through Amsterdam's canals, a cruise where sightseeing is accompanied by the consumption of cannabis.

Another Englishman, who has come to Amsterdam because of the flower garden fair and is enjoying a free day in the red light district today, holds a cannabis cigarette, Joint. He knows that he is forbidden to drink Joint, but he does not believe that there are really policemen who will come to fine him.

Tourists who want to party should not come

On this summer day, the old town is visited by many tourists. It is almost as full as it was before the pandemic period. Amsterdam is a favorite destination for tourists. The houses and canals built in the golden period of the 17th century are UNESCO heritage.

Even this year, the number of overnight stays in Amsterdam is expected to reach 20 million. In 2021, the city decided not to exceed this figure, but the number of tourists is only one of the many challenges. A growing problem are the partying tourists who make noise at night through the narrow alleys and bridges of the city center.

In order to combat the increase in tourism, since February of this year, new rules have been established. Public houses with storefronts, bars and red light bars must close two hours earlier.

The city's parliament also decided to stop anchoring cruise ships in the city center.

In addition, an online campaign called "Stay Away" is underway, which seeks to deter party-hungry Brits from coming here. According to a survey, visitors from Britain consume cannabis excessively. And they are, in end up in the hospital or in the police station, says the video clip of the "Stay Away" campaign.

Stop the bullshit

These are the first steps, but they are not enough, thinks Els Iping from the civic initiative "Stop de gekte", in Albanian "Stop the stupidity". She points out that families with children still live in the center of the city's historic quarter. Els Ipin has been living for 40 years here and often has to clean the entrance steps in the morning because some tourists can't handle mixing alcohol with drugs.

Many visitors come to the city center, not because of the charms of the old quarter, says Els Iping, "but because of the prostitutes in the shop windows, the cafes and street vendors, they come to drink and let loose." .

The clichés, according to which liberal treatment of cannabis and shop window prostitutes are a part of Amsterdam life, no longer apply. "Showroom brothels have been around since the 1960s, but when I came to live here there were very few of them. Back then there were a lot more shops and dealers. Today, everything here is about sex, drugs and fast food, Fast Food."

Hostility behind restrictions

For a period of time, members of the citizen initiative "Stop de Gegkte" patrolled the neighborhood. Wearing warning vests, they reminded the tourists who make noise at night that in the old quarter live quite normal people who want to have peace. And most of the tourists reacted in a friendly way asking for forgiveness.

But the patrols have been stopped for some time. The owners of the bars that do business with sex, drugs and alcohol and who were forced to close their activities two hours ago, blamed the citizens of the initiative for the losses caused, put pressure on them and insulted them. If you meet Els Iping in the evening in the De Wallen district, it's not long before one of the red light district employees is shouting abuse.

Tourism in the consumer society

Geerte Udo is director of the marketing firm, Amsterdam & Partners. She points out that for Amsterdam it is no longer necessary to do marketing, because the city has become very popular. But she admits that the growth of mass tourism in recent years has become a problem for Amsterdam as well. "In every city, the local culture must be respected, we have left this aside for the last ten to fifteen years." But some people think that in the consumer society, they can do whatever they want because they pay.

Supply and demand

Amsterdam will not only confront tourists who come to party with bans and rules, but also with changing offers. For years it has been proposed that tourists be banned from using cannabis and that prostitution be banished from the city centre. Thus, by the end of the year, a new location for sex workers must be found in one of the suburbs of Amsterdam. But this plan is not accepted by many sex workers and locals, who say that the situation in the suburbs is more dangerous.

As for coffee shops that sell cannabis, citizens like Els Iping want the city to enforce the laws. According to them, cannabis should only be sold to people who have a residence in Amsterdam, so far the city has made exceptions for this law. Regarding the question of whether the new rule, to close activities two hours earlier, has brought changes, Els Iping says yes: "People who live in the heart of the red light district have noticed that the situation has improved, especially at night .”/ DW