Smoke weed in Amsterdam
Walk into an Amsterdam coffeeshop, look through the menu, and experience one of the city’s most famous pieces of counterculture in the place most closely associated with it. Coffeeshops are specifically permitted to sell small quantities of cannabis under the Netherlands’ toleration policy, although cannabis itself has not simply been made fully legal. For a first-timer, the experience can be as much about the atmosphere and ritual of an Amsterdam coffeeshop as the cannabis itself. The Dutch approach deliberately distinguishes cannabis from harder drugs. Adults can possess up to 5 grams without normally being prosecuted, and coffeeshops may sell no more than 5 grams to one person in a day. You must be at least 18. Amsterdam also has its own local restrictions: smoking cannabis in public is prohibited in parts of the city centre, so this is an activity to do inside an appropriate coffeeshop rather than while wandering through the streets. Choose an established coffeeshop, bring photo ID, and if you are inexperienced, start cautiously rather than trying to match someone else’s tolerance. Cannabis can affect judgement, coordination and perception, so do not combine it with driving or cycling afterwards, and avoid mixing substances. The experience does not require turning an Amsterdam trip into a cannabis marathon; one relaxed visit is enough to tick this one off properly. Add this to your list and try one of the experiences that has been tied to Amsterdam’s international reputation for decades.