Ganja Vibes Blog

Amsterdam To Weed Smokers: Party On. - Forbes

Pot smokers, you can chill now. Amsterdam has been given a reprieve from the Netherlands’ ban on foreigners purchasing marijuana and hashish in its famous “coffeeshops.”  Earlier this year, the Dutch government began phasing in restrictions on the coffeeshops, which sell marijuana and hashish legally and under regulation and pay taxes. On May 1, starting in southern provinces, Dutch citizens were required for the first time to present a government-issued “weed pass” for admission to the coffeeshops. Non-Dutch citizens could not get a weed pass, effectively killing the foreign trade. Dutch citizens have largely voided the weed pass. The idea was to prevent mostly German, Belgian and French tourists from crossing the border to purchase drugs illegal in their own countries. The ban, imposed by the outgoing national government, was due to roll out – so to speak – to the rest of the country on January 1, 2013. Yet in an interview yesterday in the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant, Amsterdam Mayor Eberhard Van der Laan said that the new measures will not take effect in Amsterdam, the nation’s largest city and biggest tourist draw. “Amsterdam gets some 7 million tourists per year, of whom it is estimated that 1.5 million visit one of the city’s coffeeshops,” he said. If barred from the coffeeshops, “The one-and-a-half million tourists will not say, ‘then no more marijuana.’ They will swarm all over the city looking for drugs,” from illicit sources. “This would lead, to more robberies, quarrels about fake drugs, and no control of the quality of drugs on the market,” precisely the effects the ban was intended to avoid. Amsterdam credits the coffeehouse system, in part, with cleaning up neighborhoods where illicit sales once reigned, such as the historic enclaves of Zeedijk and De Wallen. “The city council, the police and the residents have been busy 20 years to reclaim that area,” Van der Laan said. If the ban hit Amsterdam, “Everything we have worked towards would be lost to misery.” The newspaper reports about 220 coffeeshops in Amsterdam, about one-third of the total nationwide. To arrive at this deal with the national Minister for Security and Justice, Amsterdam had to offer assurances of policies of checks and balances on the coffeeshops. “Sales to minors, drugs which are too strong, stocking of too large a quantity, advertising or causing nuisance – we will close in and deal with offenders ruthlessly,” Van der Laan said.   Amsterdam To Weed Smokers: Party On. - Forbes.  

NO DEMOCRACY: Why we don't see progress. Stand OUR ground Jill Stein who was Arrested: Green Party Candidate Handcuffed Before Debate

The men asking these women to "move back, You're going to get hit by a car" and arresting officers should be arrested. What every happened to our constitution and our rights? As Mitt Romney and President Obama took the stage at Hofstra University for the 2nd Presidential Debate of 2012, Green Party candidate Jill Stein was being placed in handcuffs. According to a release from the Green Party, Stein and her running mate Cheri Honkala were arrested last night after they tried to enter Hofstra to join the debate. Stein and Honkala attempted to enter the university a few hours before the debate last night. They were stopped by a group of officers. Stein held an impromptu press conference and called the Presidential Debate a “mockery.” Stein said:

“We are here to bring the courage of those excluded from our politics to this mock debate, this mockery of democracy.”

Stein tried again to enter the debate grounds and was arrested for “blocking traffic.” The Green Party reports that Stein and Honkala spent “eight hours handcuffed to a metal chair in a remote police warehouse on Long Island” while President Obama and Mitt Romney engaged in their second debate of the year. Stein has been petitioning the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) to allow presidential candidates outside of the Democratic and Republican parties to join the debates. Stein called the CPD a ”puppet” that serves “the interests of the Democrats, Republicans and the big corporations that fund both of them. The CPD’s criteria to be included in these debates is designed to exclude independent presidential contenders who promote ideas that challenge those in power.” Stein has gathered more than 14,000 signatures on a statement calling for the CPD to change its debate criteria. The statement reads:

“The debates must include every candidate who is on enough ballots to win the White House and who has demonstrated a minimal level of support — meaning either 1% of the vote in a credible national poll, or qualification for federal matching funds, or both. In 2012, the Green and Libertarian party candidates both meet all of these criteria and are both contenders for the presidency… These debates belong to the people, not the politicians or Wall Street.”

Here’s a video of Jill Stein before her arrest. http://youtu.be/pnam1yi5bVs After being released, Stein said:

“It was painful but symbolic to be handcuffed for all those hours, because that what the Commission on Presidential Debates has essentially done to American democracy.”

Do you think that candidates like Jill Stein should be allowed to participate in Presidential Debates? Jill Stein Arrested: Green Party Candidate Handcuffed Before Debate.