Coffeeshops In Amsterdam Red Light District
Coffeeshops in Amsterdam are big part of the Dutch culture because they represent the liberal thoughts of the Dutch.
Did you know that Mellow Yellow was the first (cannabis) coffeeshop in the world? It was founded in 1972 in a former bakery on the Weesperzijde street in Amsterdam. The name comes from a song by Donovan, which refers to a time when it was said that you could get high from smoking banana peels. The 2nd coffeeshop in the world is Rusland (translated: Russia), which was founded in 1975. It’s located on a street called Rusland in Amsterdam. A few months later coffeeshop The Bulldog opened its doors, the first of many coffeeshops in the Red Light District. The first bulldog is still located at the Oudezijds Achterburgwal, in the legendary Red Light District. The first coffeeshop in the world – Mellow Yellow – doesn’t exist anymore, as it got destroyed by a fire. Did you know that there are currently 164 coffeeshops in Amsterdam? In 1995, the Dutch capital still had 350 (cannabis) coffeeshops.
Nowadays it is still illegal to produce weed in the Netherlands, except for personal use. Coffeeshops are therefor forced to buy their weed supplies from criminal drug gangs because of the large quantities they need. The Netherlands has been known internationally for decades for its flexible soft drugs policy. The new Dutch cabinet is planning for the partial legalisation of weed production. The new government weed will be produced locally and then spread among six to ten municipalities. It is a test to see if the legal production of weed decreases crime and if the weed can contain less harmful substances. Municipalities can sign up for the experiment. The intention is that mainly medium and large Dutch cities participate. One organisation is given a government license to grow weed.
In this list you can find coffeeshops in the Red Light district, and other parts of Amsterdam.
