The notorious Dutch "coffee shop" faces a unique conundrum undera new public smoking ban: its patrons can still light up theircannabis joints but no longer if blended with tobacco.
The Netherlands, which tolerates the use of "soft" drugs, willbanish tobacco smoke from restaurants, cafes and other publicplaces from July 1.
But as it follows the example of other European Union members incurbing smoking for public health reasons, the country finds itselfin a singular position as the only one to allow, since 1976,marijuana use in licensed cafes.
While the new law does not prohibit the smoking of cannabis incoffee shops, owners are coming up new strategies to stay afloat ina country where users traditionally prefer their cannabis jointsmixed with tobacco.
The any Day coffee shop in Amsterdam has introduced a novelgadget that produces a new kind of high to keep clients'attention.
The machine, like vaporisers sometimes used for medicinalpurposes, works like a water pipe but without combustion. Ittransforms the cannabis into vapour, which is then inhaled.
With no tobacco and no paper, "the vapour broadens the user'sthoughts without rendering him apathetic", explained its creatorEvert, who did not want to give his full name. "People thank me forhaving changed their lives."
AFP