Smoking In The City

On the contrary, Amsterdam is a boring, almost grossly civilized city. Living there, smoking pot became stigmatic, as one only wants what they can' t have.

Amsterdamers do not smoke pot at the same ratio as tourists. Most of my Dutch friends do not smoke, and Holland has comparable drug use statistics among youth to Canada, America and the UK. Moreover, smoking outside is still illegal and highly disrespectful in Amsterdam, and as a result of outside influence, I have only smoked a few times since moving, mainly with North American friends who have come to visit, or fellow Canadians who live there. Marijuana is a minor cultural contributor to locals, as boozing is much more popular. Pot remains an elixir for tourists to get off on, rather than locals. Therefore, living in Amsterdam has nothing to do with pot, and Dutch culture, consequentially, became the conduit for helping to curb my habit. While smoking a joint was much more of an event in Canada, at home in Amsterdam, the desire to get high is much less potent. Sure, pot is as widely available at Tim Hortons and biking to school or work, I pass by dozens of coffee shops, each one specializing in decor, blend of coffee, board game of choice or drug-filled baked good. Yet, since moving, I have visited two coffee shops, each twice, even though there are over 100 in the city centre alone. I do not stroll in for a double double every time I pass a Tim's either, and my desire for crappy coffee is more potent than the Dutch's predilection to tune in, turn on and drop out. So there you have it, a simplistic, explanation that hopefully clears the misconception. Quitting was simple, because the temptation never emerged and without the cultural context, I would have ignorantly presumed.

When marijuana is freely and widely available, using it becomes boring and common place. Smoking marijuana isn't as cool and badass in a legal environment. It's too bad that prohibitionists can not understand common sense.